Metroid Rebirth
by Spaceballs
Summary: Metroid fanfic, with the return of Metroid Prime. Takes place after Metroid Fusion.
1. Prologue

Metroid is a property of Nintendo

Prologue

The battle was over. Samus was sent flying backwards as the corrupted Aurora unit 313 crashed into ground. A crackling sound could be heard just before it began to implode into nothingness, revealing the entity known as Dark Samus. Its body began to contort before exploding, sending a fury of glowing blue particles of phazon everywhere. After which, Samus herself contorted in pain as the phazon that had infected her vanished.

Suddenly, the arena began to shake and the surrounding landscape was falling apart as the planet Phaaze began to destabilize. Samus got up from the ground and quickly retreated back to her ship as her surroundings began to crumble and massive phazon explosions began to occur. As her ship began to lift off, the ground where it had just been on moments before collapsed, vanishing into inky blackness.

As she escaped the planet's gravity, her ship narrowly dodged an exploding space pirate ship. Up ahead, Samus had just noticed that the Federation fleet was retreating back through a newly opened portal, when suddenly a massive shockwave nearly caused Samus to crash into the side of the Leviathan.

Behind her, the planet Phaaze had just exploded, causing a massive wave of pure phazon to be sent out in all directions. Already the space pirate fleet had been vaporized, and the wave was dangerously close to destroying her too. Samus managed to get through the portal, just as the Leviathan disintegrated as the wave caught up with it. Safe at last, Samus quickly reported to the Federation that the mission was complete… or so she thought.

A few hours after Phaaze had exploded, something strange was happening. All the phazon particles that had recently been sent flying in all directions were slowly being pulled back to the location in which Phaaze's core had once been located, and already a shape could be seen being formed… it was Dark Samus.


	2. Chapter 1: A Shadow Reborn

Metroid is a property of Nintendo

Chapter 1: A Shadow Reborn

Several weeks had pasted as more and more of what was left of Phaaze's phazon was retrieved by Dark Samus. Finally, all the phazon that had survived the explosion was gathered, but there was only enough to rebuild her body and to create but one portal. Where this portal would lead her she knew not but the fact that it would be in Federation space...

She used the leftover phazon to create an asteroid-like shield around her before activating the portal and entering it. As she exited the other side of it, she realized too late that the use of the portal had required more energy than she had previously thought, leaving her both mentally and physically drained and exhausted.

As she lost consciousness, her "craft", no longer being controlled by her anymore, was quickly pulled towards a nearby planet due to its gravity. As her transport entered the planet's atmosphere, it began to disintegrate until nothing was left. Within seconds of this occurring, Dark Samus fell through the sky as a brilliant blue blaze before crashing into the front of a group of ancient ruins.

The ruins were apparently located in a small, isolated rocky canyon, though all around it could be seen the edges of a massive, lush rainforest that covered most of the planet. Regaining consciousness for a few moments, she attempted to get up before she was overcome with pain and blacked out, unknowing that all that had just occured had been watched by another.

The being that had seen her was an ancient one of his species, a race of sentient bipedal creatures. They resembled reptiles, though they were covered in feathers in some areas, such as the top and back of the head. They were known as Lacarions, and the planet itself was known as Lacarus Prime, and was slightly larger than Tallon IV.

The being quickly headed off in search of the impact crater, moving through the trees with great speed. As he reached the ancient ruins, he saw several Akians, large centipede-like creatures, surrounding a body, apparently unaware of the danger it posed. The figure stepped forward, just as one of the Akians was about to strike, causing it to freeze in midair and turn to face him, along with its brethren. As they prepared to charge him, the figure pulled a staff tipped with a glowing orb from out of his robes, and raised it above his head, creating a brilliant flash that caused the Akians to flee in fear.

The figure then walked over to the now convulsing body of the unconscious Dark Samus. Kneeling beside her, the figure placed his four fingered hand upon her forehead and seemed to go into a trance, during which Dark Samus went still. After several seconds, he opened his eyes and removed his hand, saying "It appears you are far more powerful than you appear, though your mind seems to be in shambles." He seemed to ponder something for several seconds before lowering the tip of his staff to her forehead and saying "I am going to give you a gift, I hope that it will help you make the right choice about the rest of your existence…" after which the tip of the staff glowed before flashing.

Several long hours passed before Dark Samus awoke. As she began to get up, she realized that she felt extremely different than she had before losing consciousness. She quickly held her hand on her head as she said "What… happened?" After a few seconds, she realized with alarm that not only had she spoken, she had also thought clearly, almost as if it were second nature. She had never experienced these sensations before, yet they felt strangely familiar yet alien at the same time.

Suddenly, a voice from above said "I see you have awoken, and by your alarm, I see you have come to realized a few things." Looking upwards, she saw a robed figure sitting on the top of a pillar in a meditative pose.

Dark Samus said "Who are you and… what happened to... what did you do to me?!?!

The figure "I am Valfor, and I have granted you a gift, and with it, you will soon realize that many things that were once impossible to you are now not." Dark Samus, hearing this, quickly attempted to recall what had happened, but found that she had no memory of what had happened to her from before waking up. Angered by this realization and loss of memory, she leapt towards Valfor, with her hand clenched into a fist, and swung at him. Valfor, apparently foreseeing this, easily leapt off the pillar just as she obliterated it with a single punch.

"Temper, temper dear child… what are you so angry about?" said Valfor as he gracefully landed on a smaller pillar.

Dark Samus, apparently extremely confused by both his voice and question, replied with "I… I don't know?" After several moments passed, she grabbed her head as if in pain and asked "How do you know what I'm saying, and how do I even know? What am I? What are you?"

Valfor replied with "I know what you are saying because I have read you mind, which I must say, was in disarray when I found you, as for how you know what you are saying, I sense that this knowledge has been passed down to you, most likely from your parents. As for your other questions, I feel that it is not yet the right time for you to know that."

After a few moments, Valfor said "Now I have a question for you… I sense a strange material in you, and I found a similar material around the area you crashed in… I would like to know what you know of it…" And from out of a small pouch floated a ball of phazon, which quickly began to levitate over his hand.

Dark Samus, seeing this, instinctively said "Phazon…" and leapt for it. As she closed in, she was suddenly repelled by an invisible presence.

Valfor said "So this is what makes you so powerful, yet leaves your mind in pieces… Phazon… this seems to be very dangerous, and if I am to help you, you must do one thing."

Dark Samus quickly said "What!" in anger, wanting to know why she had been denied what she wanted.

Valfor said "You must overcome this poison… for that is the only way you may survive… but you will not be alone, for I shall help you." With that, he threw the orb into a basin held by an ancient looking statue. He then turned to her and said "The gift I gave you will help you overcome this task… you need only do what I say and follow my teachings."

Dark Samus, thinking for several seconds, said "I will… master."

Valfor replied "That is good, and you have completed the first step, humility. Let us now begin the next one…"

The task was easier that Dark Samus had originally thought… for all that was needed was for both of them to meditate in order to clear their minds. Though originally unsure of performing this, she quickly found it helpful in clearing the storm of newfound questions within her mind. After several hours, Valfor said "Now you must do this… release this… phazon… from your body. It may take many tries, but in the end it will ultimately help you."

Hearing this, Dark Samus walked over to the basin and raised her hands, and was reluctant to give up the phazon for reasons even she did not realize, but knew that Valfor was right. Suddenly, a sinister voice filled her thoughts, saying "_You fool, if you do this, we shall only be weakened!_" Ignoring what she thought was her imagination, she continued. After several seconds, electrical beam-like strands of phazon began to enter the basin. She was able to do this for several minutes before the strain became too much for her and she collapsed to her knees.

Walking over beside her, Valfor said "That is good enough for today, and you have done very well for your first try. I sense that you can now remove… that helmet that was once fused to your head." Hearing this, Dark Samus, though unsure of how Valfor knew of this or even that the helmet was not apart of her, slowly gripped the sides of the helmet and began to tug.

Suddenly, the voice from earlier returned and said "_NO! I will not allow you to weaken us!_" And with this came a sharp piercing pain in several places along her forehead, yet she also felt that the helmet was rapidly becoming loose and beginning to move. With one final tug, she removed it completely.


	3. Chapter 2: True Nature

Metroid is a property of Nintendo

Chapter 2: True Nature

As the helmet fell to the ground, Dark Samus was nearly overwhelmed by all of her senses. For all her life she had felt nothing but the coldness of the interior of the suit, but now she could feel the warmth of the sun on her face, the breeze through her hair, the smells of the multitude of flowering plants around her, and the minute sounds of the smaller creatures that had made their home there.

Suddenly, however, she felt a warm liquid dripping from her forehead in a few areas. Touching it, she realized that it was a bluish liquid slightly tinted red. After several seconds, she realized it was blood… her own blood. She had never known the sensation of bleeding before, and knew not what to do.

Valfor, upon seeing this development, motioned towards the nearby stream, and she realized he meant for her to clean it off. After washing her face with the cool water, she finally got a good look at her reflection. She looked young, like she was in her late teens, and her hair was black except for a few phazon blue highlights. As she was overjoyed by this, nearby, Valfor had a grim look upon his face, his mint troubled.

Valfor had noticed that the cuts made on her forehead appeared to be pierce marks, as if thorns had stabbed themselves deep into her. But when he lifted the helmet he saw that the interior was smooth, and contained nothing that could possible have created the damage seen.. Suddenly, he heard a sinister voice emanate within his own mind and say "_Release me!_" just before the helmet grew hot in his hands.

As he dropped it, he swore that he saw the visor flash a brilliant blue, almost like the phazon that he had seen before. Looking back up to see his apprentice returning, he quickly and silently grabbed the helmet again within the folds of his robes and placed it on the nearby alter. He then turned and said "Are you okay now", but noticed that the wounds had appeared to have already healed.

Dark Samus replied "Yes master, do not worry, they were not as bad as they seemed."

Seeing that she was okay, Valfor said "Then all is well… from now on, whenever you are able to remove apart of that suit, do so immediately and place it here on the alter as soon as you can." Dark Samus, confused by this for a few seconds, nevertheless agreed. Little did she know of the dangerous secret that lay deep within her suit.

Over the course of several weeks, through both meditation and the elimination of the phazon that dominated her body, Dark Samus was able to remove most of her suit except for the pieces covering her arms and hands. She soon learned that underneath the suit was a smaller one, that, unbeknownst to her, was extremely similar to Samus' zero suit except being black in color.

Around this time, Valfor decided to test Dark Samus' abilities. In order to do this, he had her enter the arena, which was an ancient training ground where the warriors of the Lacarions of old had trained for centuries before the plague came. When the plague had been cured, the Lacarions built new towns and villages as the once grand city faded into ruin.

As Dark Samus entered the arena, three statues wielding spears and shields could be seen standing in place in the three corners of the arena. With a wave of his hand, Valfor activated them. As the eyes of the statues glowed, they began to march forward, raising their weapons.

The first statue swung forward, but not with its full force due to the fact it, likes its brethren, had been programmed to avoid fatal attacks when used in training situations with young warriors. Dark Samus dodged it easily and then leapt skyward. She swung down with all her might, but her attack only managed to crack the golem's shield.

As the Dark Samus was sent flying backwards by the impact of hitting the shield, she was suddenly caught off guard by the shield bash of the third golem, the force of which sent her flying into a nearby pillar. As she slowly collapsed to the ground, the armor on her arms began to glow slightly before a voice said "_It seems you are not as strong as you used to be… ha ha ha… if only you learned the error of your ways. Nevertheless, I need you in one piece long enough for my goals to be completed... so I shall lend you some of my power..._"

With this, Dark Samus got back up on her feet and charged forward with newfound strength. Her first punch shattered the first golem's shield, causing it to stagger backwards. Before it could even fall down, she launched herself forward and slammed her fist into its center, causing it to shatter. Lifting its spear, she quickly spun and threw it through the head of the third golem as it attempted to attack her from behind. As it fell backwards, she realized that the second one was nowhere in sight.

From up above, Valfor called out "Young one, I sense you can remove the last of the armor. Once that is done, come to me and I shall tell you something before you face the final one."

Hearing this, she prepared to remove the last bits of armor from her arms when the voice from before yelled out inside her mind "_NO! You can only win with me. Remove my link to you and I shall make you regret it!_"

Unfazed, she continued to do it, hearing a faint roar echo through her skull as the gauntlets fell to the ground. Walking towards Valfor, she gave him the armor, which he grabbed with his robes, and said "What did you want to tell me?"

He said "I noticed your fighting style. You focus more upon attacking then you do upon defense. If you wish to survive in battles, you must solve this problem, for I believe that is will also help you to control that poison that flows through you. Try to create a defense by focusing this phazon into your palms." With this, Dark Samus slammed both of her palms onto the ground and focused her energy into them.

Looking up, she saw the last golem charging her. Just as it was about to strike out at her with its spear, a wall of phazite burst from the ground, creating an impervious barrier that not only stopped it in its tracks, but several shards of phazite burst from the wall, piercing the golem in several places. Slowly, its eyes began to fade as its internal systems failed, and with one last creak it fell forward. She had completed the training

* * *

_One week later..._

After another week of training under the guidance of Valfor, it was decided that she would meet the others of Valfor's tribe. He told her of how he was known throughout the area as a sage, and how the beings of his tribe knew of her existence for quite some time based upon what he had told to them, and that they were prepared for her. Within a few moments of explaining this to her, they set out along an ancient path so that they would arrive at the tribe soon.

After they had left, back at the ruins, a bluish glow could be seen rising from the ground and surrounding it. A sinister aura could be sensed within the area, caused a multitude of life that had once called the area home to flee in fear and the plant life to wither and decay. This evil seemed to emanate from within the discarded suit, as if it were part of some greater plan. However, events were about to occur that even it hadn't planned on, for deep in space, an old threat was coming.

* * *

A space pirate frigate, on one of it's usually patrol routes, came closer to Lacarus Prime then it usually did. Suddenly, one of the newer recruits noticed a discrepancy on one of his scanners, and called upon the captain, Sarres, to confirm it. Soon the captain of the ship arrived beside him, and once he saw what it was, seemed to be shock for a moment before spinning about and hurrying to the communications deck. Several minutes later, a base located on the nearby world of Cronos received an urgent encoded message.

The commander soon answered after he was given the transmission, and the message was delivered. "Commander Chitor, this is patrol ship 3, and you will not believe this, but our crew has discovered a source of phazon phazon sir, repeat, we have found a source of phazon! A large concentration too, by what are scanners indicate. The location is the planet Lacarus Prime, and I believe that it would be in our best interest to invade the planet as soon as possible in order to claim it before the Federation learns of this." With that, the message ended as several members of the science team studied the scans transfered with the message, and soon stated its authenticity.

The commander was silent for several seconds before saying "Prepare the fleet!"


	4. Chapter 3: Crossroads

Metroid is a property of Nintendo

Chapter 3: Crossroads

High above the planet Toulvas, one of the massive city-worlds of the Galactic Federation, Samus had become restless. This was her third "mission" in two weeks, and now she was being sent to some planet named Lacarus Prime that was located near the very edge of Federation space, but she knew that it was most likely going to be another waste of time.

Ever since she destroyed the BSL research station along with planet SR-388, many of the higher ups in the Federation had gone into an uproar. When Samus had been put on trial, she would have lost if it had not been for ADAM uploading images of the disaster, such as those of guards being overwhelmed and massacred by x-parasite mimics and tanks filled with metroids onto holo-screens everywhere. Due to the massive public outcry at the experiments, most of the government officials realized their mistakes and Samus was released on all charges, but she would have to perform all missions given to her by the Federation for the next six months.

So far, every mission was to head out to some far out corner of the galaxy just because someone claimed they saw a space pirate ship and such, and even after the mission was complete, the pay she earned barely outdid the costs of the mission itself.

* * *

General Krinnel was furious. He had been this was ever since the bounty hunter known as Samus Aran had destroyed SR-388. The research station itself that had also been destroyed did not concern him at all, due to the fact that it could have always been replaced, but the x-parasite was a completely different matter. The creatures that were created by them were far superior to their originals in almost every way, and if they could be controlled, they would have made the Galactic Federation unstoppable.

He alone still held this view of the parasites, for almost everyone else realized, thanks to the tribunals of Samus Aran, that they were both far too powerful and far too deadly to control. And that led to another matter, for Krinnel had always disliked Samus for multiple reasons. His major one was that she "interfered" when it came to taking down the space pirates, a job he believed could easily have been accomplished by the Federation, but no, she had to defeat Mother Brain and her minions, by herself where all others had failed, including his own forces. Now all he wanted to do was to make Samus pay. As he walked over to the window of his office, overlooking a massive sky highway, he realized that he would have to be patient.

A secretary drone then hovered into the room and took its place behind him, holding several papers in its hands, which it passed on to the general before hovering out of the room. Krinnel merely glanced over the papers for several seconds, then exited the room, his destination the communications room.

* * *

Samus was preparing to make the jump to the Ovias system, when she suddenly received a message from command. General Krinnel appeared on the monitors. He said "Samus, we have received word that a pirate frigate was seen in the Metara solar system. You can return to your original mission once you complete this one."

Samus was angered by this, due to the fact that the Metara system was at the opposite side of the galaxy. She began to say "But sir!" When a second monitor turned on, revealing what looked like a Federation trooper except for the fact his armor was black, revealing him to be a member of Deltas "Reaper" squad.

The figure said "Jonas reporting in. Don't worry, me and the rest of the squad are already near the Metara system, so we'll take care of it." Krinnel looked furious, and appeared as if he was about to say something when Jonas added "Don't worry Dad; we've already finished our previous mission. The lead on Sylux was a dead end. Over and out." And with that, Jonas' monitor went blank, and soon after an infuriated Krinnel's monitor followed suit.

Samus, chuckling to herself, realized that she would need to properly thank Jonas for stepping in once again in order to "discourage" his father from getting back at her. Now with that out of the way, Samus activated and entered the newly formed portal.

* * *

Meanwhile, high over Lacarus Prime, a small fleet made up almost entirely of landing ships was preparing to invade the world. Commander Chitor had already sent an encoded message to space pirate command beforehand, and was now awaiting a reply from General Weavel. After waiting for several more moments, Chitor received the message he had been expecting, which stated that a ship with reinforcements would soon arrive. Almost as if on cue, a ship appeared out of newly activated wormhole.

As the ship docked with his, Chitor himself inspected the troops aboard. On it were a dozen elite space pirate commandos, several jet troopers, a group of Jolly Rodgers, and a squad of Dark Troopers, which were a breed of commandos with dark energy based armor and weapons. Suddenly, Chitor saw a large tank on the far end of the ship. Asking the captain what was in it, he was told "General Weavel wants no mistakes with this mission, so he's sending in one of the best."

Hearing this, Chitor walked over to the tank and looked in through the glass, and was momentarily stunned, for inside of it was an Omega Pirate. After regaining his composure, he laughed to himself and said "This mission cannot possibly fail."

* * *

Far below the space pirate fleet, on the planet, an evil presence was growing. The suit, still lying upon the pedestal where it had been placed, was angrily waiting for Dark Samus to return, for it knew that its revenge couldn't be fulfilled unless she was there. After several hours passed, it knew it had to take action.

Black tendrils formed from a product of its own creation, dark phazon, and began to connect the pieces of itself together. After a few moments, the suit stood up; though it constantly swayed back forth due to apparently it hadn't created a sense balance in itself. Attempting to walk forward, it nearly collapsed onto the ground, causing parts of itself to detach. As the armor reattached, the suit raised its head and stared at the basin filled with phazon that lay a distance before it, and realized that it didn't yet have enough power to get to it yet. Its visor flashed in anger before it quickly fell backwards onto the pedestal. Looking upward towards the nighttime sky, it suddenly sensed the presence of the fleet. This new factor to its plans greatly interested it. Perhaps these weaklings could help it to achieve its plan. Now it knew that its goal would soon be achieved.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dark Samus had already visited the "tribe" of Valfor, and she was greatly surprised. This "tribe" was more like a multistory town, made of what appeared to be clay and stone. Many Lacarions could be seen preparing for the arrival of night, due to torches had been lit and sentries had been positioned. Some Lararions were busy tending Nalps back into their pens, some were eating meals, and some were heading back to their homes. Valfor himself lived in a small building on the canyon wall, and they were both headed there right now.

As the darkness approached, Dark Samus noticed that some of the sentries had glowing eyes, revealing them to be golems. As she prepared to sleep in a guest room, the last thing she saw was the planets two moons through the window before sleep overtook her. Several hours passed, before the explosions occurred. The invasion had begun.


	5. Chapter 4: Invasion

Metroid is a property of Nintendo

Chapter 4: Invasion

Dark Samus suddenly awoke as several explosions ripped through the city. Quickly looking out the window, she saw, as the sun began to rise, several space pirate fighters performing bombing runs. Already an alarm had been sounded, and masses of civilians were heading towards the cave sanctuaries in an attempt to avoid the onslaught.

Valfor suddenly appeared at Dark Samus' side and began to warn her to seek cover when all of a sudden a space pirate ATC hovered before them. Just as it was charging its tribeam cannons and prepared to fire, it suddenly exploded in flames as several energy bursts tore through it. Two more fighters soaring overhead suddenly exploded as well and crashed as anti-air turrets rose out of the rocky outcroppings. Masses of warriors and golems began to stream out of passageways hidden on the cliff walls, having armed themselves within the hidden armories within them, and began to fire bursts of energy from their staffs. Overhead, several riders came flying in on large, bird-like dragon mounts and began to attack the fighters head on.

These riders, though skilled through years of training with their Nynik mounts, proved effective against the sluggish ATC's, they were not faring as well with the fighters, though they were managing to take down a few more than their opponents.

* * *

Overhead, on Chitor's personal flagship, the _Acheron_, a realization was quickly made. Several tech officers quickly alerted Chitor that the natives were much more advanced than they had originally believed, and already a fifth of the ships originally sent down had already been destroyed. Hearing this, Chitor commanded the fleet to begin sending down more fighters along with the transport ships. As the ships descended, the flagship itself began to open fire on the planet.

* * *

Meanwhile, a small task force of elite commandos had been sent down and had been ordered to head towards the area where the phazon had been located. As soon as the ship returned with the phazon, the fleet would retreat and activate the wormhole in order to meet up with general Weavel. Just then, several blasts rocked the flagship from the planet' turret fired, however, the ships shields held for the time being.

Several landing ships began to land in the city square, one of the few open places within the surrounding area. Out of them came several dozen space pirate troops, which began to open fire on the defenders of the city who had surrounded the area. Leading them were elite commando units, enhanced with phazon based weaponry and armor, who began to order key units to eliminate the turrets that were damaging their ships.

Meanwhile, Jolly Rodgers and jet troopers began to engage the mounted riders in aerial combat alongside their own fighters. On the far edge of the city, a unique pod landed, and out of it poured the squad of Dark Troopers, the infamous Shadow Squad. Their task was different than that of the others, due to the fact they had been ordered to go after the mobile phazon source that had been located in the city, and to capture it, but if they could not, to eliminate it at all costs.

They began to quickly move through the city, eliminating any threat that got in their way. Soon they were in sight of the sanctuary cave entrance, and what they saw surprised them. Up ahead a human could be seen fighting off several space pirates by somehow generating phazite into a blade and defending itself with a phazite shield, both of which seemed to grow off its arms. With a roar, the squad leader led the charge.

* * *

Dark Samus and Valfor had noticed several villagers being chased by space pirate troops. Valfor effortlessly leaped from rooftop to rooftop and then landed in between a pair of them, cutting off a squad of pirates that from a group of villagers. The pirates, arming their blades, charged forth. The first one was sent skyward by a well aimed smash by Valfor's staff, while the second one was repulsed backwards by a wave of energy into two of its comrades. The last one was about to perform a backstab on Valfor but was suddenly knocked to the ground due to Dark Samus slammed into his back, knocking him out cold. Afterwards, they joined the villagers, who were headed towards the caves, and joined the soldiers who were attempting to defend them.

As space pirates quickly swarmed them, they were suddenly dispersed by a damaged ATC that crashed directly into their ranks. The space pirate survivors attempted to get up, but several staff bursts and spear stabs quickly prevented this from occuring. After several moments passed, another wave of space pirates appeared and begun to open fire on the soldiers, only to miss due to the sudden formation of a wall of phazite. Seeing that their wrist blasters and Battlehammers were useless, they charged forward, energy blades and shields at the ready.

As the Lacarion soldiers and space pirates did battle, the outcome could not yet be predicted. The soldiers, clearly superior to the space pirates when it came to fighting, were being overwhelmed by sheer number alone. Valfor himself was fighting off five space pirates, and three were headed towards Dark Samus. Concentrating phazon in her hands, she formed an arm blade and shield. She bashed the first pirate with her shield before slashing it in two, and then she managed to stab a second one in the gut before tossing it at a third one.

Suddenly, a roar was heard as a group of Dark Troopers stormed towards her. Several bolts of dark energy caused Dark Samus to get separated from the other warriors. Valfor, seeing this, attempted to go to her aid but was suddenly blocked by four elite commandos just as the squad leader grabbed her and leaped out of area followed by the others in its squad.

The Dark Troopers quickly reached a partially destroyed building with a large ship next to it, which would be used in their eventual escape. One of the space pirates pulled out a scanner in order to verify if she was the source of the mobile phazon scanned by the flagship. After this was completed, and the target verified, they began to secure the area.

One of the space pirates then held a blade to Dark Samus' neck before saying "What are you? No true human can control phazon!" He then turned to another space pirate and said "Collect a DNA sample. We need to know what she is." With that, Dark Samus felt a sharp pain in her arm, as the needle was stabbed into it.

After several seconds, the Dark Trooper said that a DNA match had been made. Looking up, he said "DNA matches… that of the Hunters."

The leader suddenly said "That cannot be, for we have seen the hunter, and this one is not she."

Suddenly a beeping came from the scanner, causing the space pirate to add "We also have confirmed DNA similar to that of a… metroid." Both Dark Troopers then stared down at their hostage for several moments.

* * *

Meanwhile, in space, a portal had just opened. Samus' ship zoomed out of it, and within seconds Samus said "What's happening here?" as she saw the invasion fleet before her.


	6. Chapter 5: Reunion

Metroid is a property of Nintendo

Chapter 5: Reunion

Samus quickly went into action as soon as she saw Chitor's flagship. Flying in, she began to open fire on the main shield generator, located on the center of the ship's main deck. Dodging turret fire, she managed to score several direct hits before fighters began to exit the ship. On board, Chitor and his crew were momentarily stunned by the sudden and completely unexpected arrival of the dreaded Hunter.

Regaining his composer, Chitor ordered that all main cannons fire on her ship. He knew that if he killed her, he would be guaranteed a position of a General, possible even becoming more powerful in rank than Lord Ridley himself. A sudden explosion then rocked the ship, indicating that the shield generator had failed, but this worried Chitor not due to the fact that he knew that his ship could take much more damage than her puny ship could possible produce.

Samus skillfully evaded the shots from the incoming space pirate fighters, and managed to shoot three down herself. She then began to bomb the wormhole generator; a massive part of the ship was directly connected to the ships engines, using energy from them to form wormholes between two points in space. Dropping as many as she could, she managed to crack its armored plating, venting fuel gel into space. Now that no wormholes could be built, and that the ship could not escape, Samus began to focus on the command deck of the ship.

Chitor, who suddenly noticed that the Hunter was about to open fire upon the command deck, frantically ordered the nearby frigates to stop bombing the planet and to begin to focus their fire on the Hunter. Just as Samus was just about to fire the missile that would destroy the command deck of the ship, a powerful beam struck her ship, damaging the life support and the weapons system. ADAM suddenly said "Samus, we should land, or else were not going to last much longer out here. Already the shields are draining." Agreeing with him on the fact that they wouldn't last long up there without shields, she headed towards the planet in n attempt to aid the ground forces. Back on the flagship, Chitor chuckled at the fact he had forced the hunter to retreat. He decided it was time to send in… the Omega.

Samus soon made it through the planet's atmosphere and quickly landed in front of a large cave where she could see a fight between the space pirates and the natives was occurring. Leaping out of her ship, she began to open fire with her arm cannon's power beam. As several space pirates crumpled to the ground, the rest of the soldiers rallied together to crush what was left of the invaders assaulting the cave.

Valfor walked up to Samus, saying "Thank you for the assistance, warrior. Without you, we would have surly have been crushed. We must no… oh no." He suddenly began to run off towards a group of particularly badly damaged buildings. Running after him, Samus questioned him about what had happened. He said "I have nearly forgotten my apprentice. She was taken by a group of dark ones during the attack. Why they did it, I know not, but we must hurry if we are to save her!"

Suddenly, several bolts of dark energy nearly struck them, hitting the ground just before them. As both took cover behind a damaged wall, three Dark Troopers could be seen opening fire upon them from the top of the nearby multistory building. Samus began to return fire as Valfor reflected shots with his staff, and after a few moments, one of the Dark Troopers was struck in the shoulder, causing him to collapse backwards, and was soon seen being pulled inside the building by the squad's medic.

Inside the building, the squad leader was worried. The Hunters arrival had been completely unexpected, and even though his squad was one of the best, he knew they were no match for her in this battlefield. Looking back at their hostage, Dark Samus, he said to his fellow squad mate to prepare for DNA extraction. They would take a pure sample of the metroid DNA for the glory of the space pirates. His squad mate pulled out a large syringe and jabbed it into her arm.

An electrical current ran through it, shocking her for a few moments as a clear, bluish liquid filled it. With the sample removed, the Dark Trooper began to prepare to eliminate her when suddenly the medic dragged in a wounded trooper. A second pirate stood by the doorway as the third one entered. The second one said "Commander Synek, they're coming! We can't hold them off for much longer!" With that, an explosion shook the building, destroying part of the wall.

The leader said "This structure can't take another direct missile hit. We must retreat back to the ship."

As they entered the ship, his second in command asked "Shall we return the fleet?"

The leader replied "No Chron. That pitiful fool Chitor will not receive this DNA sample. We are doing as General Weavel himself directed and going straight to him." As their ship blasted off, it activated a prototype wormhole generator and entered it.

Samus fired several missiles at the escaping ship, but missed due to it suddenly opened a wormhole, a feat that was supposedly impossible for ships of that size. As she pondered the significance of it for several seconds, she then entered the structure alongside Valfor. Inside, she was surprised to not see another of Valfor's species but a young woman holding her arm in pain. Kneeling beside her, she began to look at her arm. From what she could tell, it looked as if the pirates had taken a DNA sample, but for what reason she didn't know.

Taking off her helmet, she placed it aside in order to get a better look at the wound. Valfor, standing at the side, was suddenly surprised. He couldn't believe how similar they both looked, with the only differences appeared to be a few years between they're age, hair color, and the fact that his apprentice was slightly paler. Apparently, Samus either didn't notice this too but was too busy to bother about it. Suddenly, to her shock, the wound began to rapidly heal on its own. Samus turned towards Valfor, who said "Fear not, for this is my apprentice, and I have been helping her over the past several weeks." Just as Samus was about to question him more about his apprentice, a massive explosion could be heard in the distance.

All three of them quickly left the building and saw in the distance a large column of smoke. Running towards it, they were quickly joined by several soldiers and golems who told them that something had fallen from the sky. Upon reaching the site of the explosion, a large metal canister could be seen sticking out of the side of a ruined building.

After a few moments, a massive hiss could be heard as the canister began to open. The door was suddenly sent flying off, crashing into a group of golems that had just arrived. A growl was heard emanating from within just before a massive claw grasped the frame of the doorway, mere moments before the creature leapt out. It was an Omega Pirate, one of the most feared bio-weapons of the space pirates. Taking a few steps forward, it let loose a massive roar before charging, its sights set on Samus.

Samus ordered the soldiers to retreat to safety due to she knew they would have been massacred by the brute. As she returned her attention once more to the battle, she quickly leaped out of the way, narrowly dodging the giants charge, causing it to run straight through a wall. Catching her breath, she is suddenly knocked backwards as it breaks through another wall. As the dust cleared, Samus was suddenly lifted into the air by one of the creature's massive clawed hands and was then thrown into the side of a building.

Charging forward, the creature raised both of its hands in preparation of smashing her, but was stopped when a wall of phazite formed. Samus quickly saw that the young women had created it, but before she could say anything, the wall began to shake from the Omega pounding upon it. After a few moments the wall shattered, knocking Dark Samus to the ground. The Omega then rose one of its feet in order to crush her.

Samus quickly fired a super missile at the Omega's chest, causing it to stumble backwards and crash into a building, obliterating it instantly. Gasping in pain, the Omega began to get up as Samus ran beside the young women. Roaring, the Omega pirate stood up, and the two cannons on its back began to open fire.

Both women leapt in opposite directions in order to avoid the phazon missiles. Samus then shot a barrage of charged power beam shots at the creatures face. However, the Omega seemed completely unfazed by this attack, and lifted a nearby column in order to use it as a club. Samus skillfully leapt over the Omegas first swing and then ducked under the third. Just as it lifted the column high over its head, Samus fired a missile that caused it to shatter and fall down upon its skull.

Clearly enraged, the Omega charged once more. Samus raised her cannon in order to fire when suddenly the young woman leapt in front of her. The Omega, seeing an opportunity, prepared to strike when the Dark Samus swung her arm which now had a phazite blade growing out of it. The blade neatly cut the arm off in half, causing the Omega to howl in agony. Grabbing at its stump of an arm, it ran off in the direction of the ruins both in a blind rage and to also follow the orders hardwired into its brain which commanded it to complete its objective by retrieving the phazon source.

Seeing that the cost was clear for now, Samus activated her scanning visor and scanned the young women, trying to see if she matched any hunters in the database. What she learned both surprised and frightened her.

The scanner identified the figure as being genetically similar to the entity known as Dark Samus. Raising her arm cannon again, she moved warily around her. Dark Samus was confused by this, especially since this warrior, though wearing a suit similar to the one she had before, was unfamiliar to her, yet she seemed to remind her of something. She asked "What are you doing? That thing is getting away!"

Samus replied "I'll deal with him later. For now surrender." Clearly confused, Dark Samus began to ask why when Samus cut her off, saying "I know what you are. I don't know how you survived Phaaze or why you saved me, but you're not…" Samus hadn't even finished her sentence when she felt something hit her head. Looking behind her, she saw Valfor holding his staff defensively. Samus said "I don't know what she's said to you, but she is a major threat to..."

Valfor hit her squarely on the head again and said "Why are you so concerned for what she has done when the darkness ruled her mind, even though she is not your threat today. There is currently a more serious threat at hand, but I will talk with you later. For now we must hurry to the ruins of Valacon."

Samus, thinking to herself for a few moments, said "Fine, we should go after that pirate, but we will discuss this." And with this, she began to run in the direction the Omega left in, and was soon followed by Valfor, and after a few moments, a very confused Dark Samus who was still wondering about what this warrior meant about knowing her.


	7. Chapter 6: Bloodlines I

Metroid is a property of Nintendo

Chapter 6: Bloodlines I

The Omega pirate ran through the jungle, toppling any tree that got in its path. It grabbed the stump where its hand used to be, and let out another painful moan. After several moments, it refocused on its mission to find the phazon source that was located up ahead. The squads, the Elite Commando Unit Omicron, had been sent ahead before it should have completed their objectives hours beforehand, but for some unknown reason or another they failed to return to the extraction point or even answer their transmissions.

The Omega then recalled the Hunter it had fought earlier, the one who had caused such pain for the space pirates, and for who he had been created to destroy. Though phazon gave him his power, it had destroyed his mind, making him little more than a beast, a powerful one, but a beast nonetheless. He was still was able to follow his missions, and one of his primary one was to destroy the Hunter. However, the second fighter was unexpected occurrence, especially due to the abilities it had possessed. When they met again, he would crush her slowly and painfully, strangling the life out of her until death took her in its cold grasp. Unbeknownst to him, however, he would never get that chance.

* * *

Hours beforehand, the Unit Omicron had arrived at the ruins. As they had began to secure the phazon, a movement was noticed by their commander Rynoth. To their surprise, a clearly empty suit, resembling that of the Hunters, suddenly stood before them, held together by dark strands. Several of the elites began to open fire with their phazon weapons, unknowingly sealing their own fate. The suit began to absorb the blasts, and after a few moments, it began to laugh menacingly as its visor glowed a deep blue.

Raising its arm cannon, it shot the commando leader, obliterating him instantly. His squad mates slowly backed away in horror, and some even began ran. Aiming again, the suit fired several shots, each one striking a target. All five of the ATCs lifted off the ground after half of the surviving members boarded them, and they then began to open fire with everything they had. A massive cloud of dust was thrown into the air as their energy blasts and missiles struck at the spot the armor was standing in. As they cooled down after their weapons overheated, they waited to see the destruction they had caused.

Suddenly, phazon missiles burst out of the cloud of dust, knocking each ship out of the sky in a burning explosion. The remainder of the pirates began to flee once more, when suddenly the suit unleashed a powerful shockwave of pure phazon energy, incinerating them instantly on contact. Letting out another laugh, it suddenly felt drained again, having used too much energy in the attack. Stopping, it began to recharge itself on what remained of the units phazite armor, after which it knew it would only be a matter of time till it could achieve its goal.

* * *

The Omega reached the ruins with one finally burst of speed, toppling several pillars in the process. Looking around, it saw the signs of battle everywhere. Walking forward, crushing the charred bodies of several of its teammates beneath its footsteps, it eventually reached the large cylinder filled with phazon. Reaching in to recharge itself, it suddenly stopped as it sensed something.

Whipping around, it fired two phazon missiles at a ship that had been thrown at it. As the flaming wreckage slammed into the ground, it saw the living suit staring at it. Believing it to be the Hunter, it charged forward, roaring. Slamming its fist at it, he then began to pound the ground repeatedly at where he thought the Hunter was. As the dust cleared, he saw that there was no sign of the Hunter anywhere.

Looking around, it suddenly saw it floating inches from his own face. Swinging at it with his remaining fist, he thought he had it until the being caught his fist easily in its hand. Suddenly he was lifted off the ground and thrown into a nearby ship with relative ease. As he began to rise off the ground, he collapsed again. Suddenly, the figure appeared before him, and the last thing he saw was it placing its palm on his forehead, after which, the Omega exploded in blue flames.

In the distance, Samus and the others were still fallowing the trail of the Omega, which was a simple enough task due to all the destruction it had caused during its rampage. Samus began to ask Valfor how much farther away the ruins were when a massive column of blue flames appeared in the distance. Valfor said "I sense a dark presence, one I have felt before, but now it seems stronger." Samus was about to question him what he had meant when they suddenly reached the ruins.

The area was littered with wrecked ships, broken weapons, and badly burnt pirate corpses. Dark Samus said "Could that thing have gone berserk and kill…" but stopped when she saw its massive body slammed against a crashed ship, its flesh charred as blue flames surrounded it. As she stepped backwards away from it, she bumped into the alter. Startled, she quickly turned around only to see her suit still lying upon it. Calming down, she called to Samus and said "What happened here?"

Turning to say something, Samus suddenly stopped as she saw the suit behind Dark Samus rise up. Suddenly sensing movement behind her, Dark Samus turned around just in time to be sent flying backwards by a whack of the suit's hand. Samus began to upon fire on the suit with everything she had, but it easily dodged every power beam shot at it. Samus then fired a super missile, but the suit grabbed it in midair before tossing it aside.

The suit then said, telepathically, in a sinister voice "_We… meet… again… Samus…_" before bursting forward with extreme speed. Leaping out of the way, Samus then began to open fire once again, hitting the suit several times in the back. Apparently unfazed, the suit turned around and said "_You… will have to do… better than that… to win… this time..._" before raising its own arm cannon.

It began to open fire with a barrage of rapid fire phazon shots. Samus started running behind a wall for cover as it crumbled from the attack. She then leapt out from behind it and fired a missile that disrupted the suits attack. Angered, the suit unleashed a wave of phazon energy that sent Samus flying backwards into the side of a shattered building. The suit screeched before charging forward, but was suddenly tackled by Dark Samus.

Samus slowly rose from the ground, her body in agony as Valfor ran to her aid. after which they then both looked towards Dark Samus. The suit was now hovering over the ground as it held Dark Samus by the neck. It said "_Pitiful child… you chose to be weak and to betray me… to think my own daughter would do such a thing… when I regain my true form, you shall suffer my wrath._" Dark Samus seemed stunned as her face became solemn.

Tossing her aside, the suit proceeded towards the basin filled with phazon, knocking Valfor out of the way as he attempted to block it. It then hovered over the basin, and after facing Samus and the others, said "_Foolish mortals, you all thought you could stop me from achieving greatness, from achieving power, from achieving my destiny. Now you shall face thy true form, a being with power beyond your comprehension._" With that, something glowing dropped off into the phazon, causing the suit to collapse in front of the basin, now resembling its original form, the phazon suit, though darker in coloration.

In space, Chitor's flagship was taking massive damage from the planet's defenses. One of Chitor's techs alerted him that Samus' location had been pinpointed. Hearing this, Chitor was overcome with feelings of anger for the damage she had done to his plans. He ordered the crew to open fire on the hunter. Meanwhile, back at the ruins, the basin of phazon began to bubble ferociously. Suddenly, laser fire bombarded the area, nearly hitting Samus and the others.

After the laser fire came near to hitting the basin, electrical currents began to ripple throughout the phazon pool seconds before a powerful beam of phazon was blasted out of it. On Chitor's ship, one of the techs sudden yelled "Commander Chitor, we have detected a massive surge of energy coming from the planet, it's going to… by the grand mother… it's going to collide with…" The tech never finished his sentence due to the beam ripped through the ship.

Chitor roared "Keep us in orbit as long as possible! We cannot fail General Weavel!"

Meanwhile, back on the planet, the phazon had stopped bubbling. All of a sudden a massive entity burst from it, leaving nothing of the phazon in the basin behind. Floating before them was the powerful entity known as Metroid Prime. Staring at them intently, it gave out a sinister laugh before telepathically saying "_I… AM… REBORN!_"


	8. Chapter 7: Bloodlines II

Metroid is a property of Nintendo

Chapter 7: Bloodlines II

Samus slowly moved backwards as she raised her arm cannon at the dangerous monstrosity known as Metroid Prime that had appeared before him. She fired off several power beam shots at its central mass, but they were all absorbed by its swaying tentacles. Next thing she knew, it charged her at an extreme speed, but at the last second diverted its course. Surprised by this, Samus quickly turned around to face him but was suddenly sent flying by force of its charge, causing her.

Raising its tentacle, it prepared to smash her into oblivion, but missed as she transformed into her morph ball state and boosted out of the way, narrowly avoiding its onslaught. Morphing out of her morph ball state, Samus spun around and fired two missiles at the eyes of Metroid Prime. Unfazed, it simple floated in place, glaring angrily at the oncoming missiles with an intense fury. Both missiles suddenly stopped in midair, and then began to implode into nothingness, leaving minor flashes of light as they vanished..

Chuckling menacingly, it then said "_So hunter, your weapons have no effect on me… what shall you do now that you are powerless? Now I can truly exact my revenge on you Prepare to face a true power in this universe!_" With that, a nearby pillar began to rise out of the ground, and with a simple wave of its tentacle, was sent soaring towards Samus.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dark Samus sat huddled against a nearby damaged wall. She kept on thinking to herself that this monster was her father. The knowledge that she had its blood running through her frightened her, but now she realized that this thing must have been the metroid whose DNA the space pirates had referred too.

As she thought this, Valfor appeared beside her, clutching his side. He said "Do not worry about what he said, you are different from him. You cannot choose your heritage, but you can choose how to live your life. The warrior needs you now in order to triumph. I would help, but I fear that last blow did more damage than it appeared." Dark Samus realized that he was right, that she was different from him in many ways, from choosing to do good and to not choose power over everything, and now she knew she had to face him. Running forward, forming duel phazite blades on both hands at the same time, she prepared to do battle alongside the warrior.

* * *

Samus leapt out of the way of the thrown pillar, continuously firing at her foe the entire time. Metroid Prime unleashed a massive wave of blue phazon flames from the tips of its tentacles, nearly striking Samus had it not been for her leaping behind a nearby pillar. Roaring, it rushed forward and pulled the pillar out of the ground, but saw Samus was not behind it. As it looked around, it telepathically roared "_Where are you human!_"

Suddenly, he heard her say "Up here!" causing him to look upward towards the top of the pillar just as Samus fired a super missile into his forehead, causing him to drop the pillar in agony as his gaping wound bled bluish blood. Letting out a roar, he turned to face Samus, who had fallen to the ground hard. Looking upward, Samus prepared to fire again when suddenly she saw the wound she had caused heal within seconds.

Seeing this, she aimed a missile at the column it still held above them, causing it to come falling down on Metroid Prime's head. As the dust cleared, nothing could be seen moving in the rubble, so Samus began to warily move backwards when suddenly a tentacle burst from beneath the mound. Wrapping around her tightly, the tentacle raised Samus off the ground, after which Metroid Prime rose out of the rubble. He said to Samus "_You are doomed. Your death is inevitable, for you cannot harm one such as I with your pitiful weaponry. Now prepare to die…_" At that moment, however, Dark Samus leapt forward and slashed at him with both of her phazite blades, catching Metroid Prime off guard.

Slashing through two of Metroid Prime's tentacles, and damaging three others before landing, after which Dark Samus quickly turned around and leapt toward its head. Just as she was about to make contact with its forehead, however, its eyes narrowed and both of her blades suddenly shattered just before a tentacle wrapped around her. Lifting them both before its eyes, Metroid Prime then removed Samus' helmet and said "_Did you really think you could defeat me that easily? I shall make you both pay…!_ "

Upon saying that, he tightened his grip on both of them and laughed menacingly. Focusing his attention on Dark Samus, who was struggling in his grasp, he said "_Why do you struggle so… you are only delaying the inevitable. You seem to take much after your maternal DNA..._" Seeing that she was confused by these words, it forced her gaze upon Samus before saying "_You bear her blood in you… her DNA helped to create you… so in a way, she is your mother._" Both Samus and Dark Samus seemed stunned by this. Suddenly, Metroid Prime raised Dark Samus towards his face and said "_I will give you one last chance, my daughter… join me or perish!_"

Several moments passed before she yelled "NO!" at him and attempted to break free of his grip. Metroid Prime simply glared, after which several spikes grew out of its tentacle, piercing Dark Samus numerous times. Meanwhile, Samus had overcome the shock of what Metroid Prime said, and seeing that he was distracted, managed to go into morph ball mode and slipped out of his grip.

Suddenly shocked, Metroid Prime looked to were the Samus had just been. He quickly gazed across the ruins in an attempt to find her, but could not pinpoint her location. Next thing he knew, several icy bolts struck him from behind. Samus had activated her ice beam in combination with missiles in an attempt to shatter Metroid Primes tentacles. As the missiles broke several of his tentacles, his grip on Dark Samus loosened as his body regenerated. Falling to the ground, Dark Samus slowly rose up as her body also regenerated, though much slower in comparison with that of Metroid Primes.

Knowing that the odds were against him, Metroid Prime eyes flashed as his body became covered in a black exoskeleton made of dark phazite, and then blades formed at the tips of his tentacles. As Samus fired on its ebony black shell, she quickly realized that her attacks had no effect. Leaping out of the way, Samus narrowly dodged a swing of Metroid Primes blades, but was suddenly struck by a bolt of phazon energy shot from its eyes, sending her flying backwards. Seeing this, Dark Samus leapt forward and prepared to stab him in the eye with one of her phazite blades, but was sent flying backwards into the side of the basin due to a swing of Metroid Primes tentacle.

Dark Samus slowly slumped to the ground besides Metroid Primes abandoned phazon suit. As the phazon suit came in contact with her black zero suit, it suddenly began to meld into it. Within seconds, it vanished, causing Dark Samus to stare in wonder. Raising her arm, she was able to make the arm cannon appear. With this realization, she then caused the whole phazon suit to materialize over her body.

With newfound strength, she rushed back into the battle. Meanwhile, Samus had just leapt into an ancient building and after taking cover, aimed her cannon towards the entrance. Suddenly the wall behind her collapsed as Metroid Prime burst through it. Slashing forward, it just missed Samus and cut through two support pillars, causing a small portion of the roof to collapse onto himself. Unscathed, it waited for the dust to settle when suddenly several phazon shots hit it square in the head. Seeing the silhouette of a power suit, he glared in anger and prepared to charge when suddenly he realized it was the phazon suit. Several power beam shots suddenly struck him from the side as Samus leapt beside Dark Samus. Both raising their cannons, they charged forth and opened fire.

This sudden burst of fire surprised Metroid Prime, causing him to form a phazite shield in order to protect himself. Regaining his composure, he burst through his own barrier in order to send a wave of phazite shards at both warriors. Both Samus and Dark Samus leapt in different direction in order to avoid the attack, and began to open fire again as soon as they landed. As Metroid Prime was pushed towards the back of the building, Samus suddenly had an idea that she was positive would work. She activated her arm cannon and cycled through her missiles until she reached the one she was looking for.

It was a new prototype Federation missile known as the hyper missile, with firepower greater than ten times that of a super missile, which had been based upon the hyper missile of old which had been created through phazon. As Dark Samus continued to keep him occupied, Samus aimed carefully due to she would have only one shot, and after a moment, fired. As Metroid Prime prepared to stab Dark Samus, the missile connected with his head, causing it to let loose a roar of agony. As it hovered in place, its body twitched slightly as chunks of its armor fell to the ground in mass.

With the last of its armor gone, Metroid Prime realized its predicament. Too much phazon had been used to create its armor, and now that it was gone, it would be hours before it could recreate another or even heal properly from the damage it had already sustained. A thought suddenly occurred to it, and with a growl it turned its attention to Dark Samus. Without hesitation it shot forth one if tentacles right through her, though no mark could be seen forming in her body. Dark Samus armor suddenly began to vanish as Samus looked on, and her eyes had a glazed look to them. As the tentacle absorbed phazon, Metroid Prime telepathically said "_Well child, apparently I still had some use for you after all._" after which he let loose a sinister laugh.

After several moments he flung her through a nearby wall and then turned to Samus, saying "_We will meet again hunter, and by then you will have true reason to fear me, but worry not, I have one last parting gift for you._" With that, he burst through the roof of the building and headed into space, stopping in front of Chitor's flagship. Staring angrily, he unleashed a wave of phazon energy at the exposed fuel gel, causing it to explode and the ship to begin a fall out of its orbit on a path towards the ruins. Meanwhile, Samus ran out of the building towards the unconscious body of Dark Samus, to whom Valfor was tending.

* * *

Chitor watched on as the phazon-enhanced entity floated past his command deck, his men staring in silence. When it suddenly turned towards them, Chitor realized what was about to happen and quickly leapt from his seat and made his way for the nearby exit. Just as he was making his way through the doorway, the massive fuel gel explosion engulfed the command deck, killing the crew who had just been standing their mere moments before and striking Chitor in the back, pushing him through the doorway as he blacked out.

* * *

Suddenly sensing something, Samus looked skyward and saw the flaming wreckage of the space pirate flagship heading towards them. Just then a hover skiff burst from the forest edge, being driven by several warriors. After they all quickly boarded, they burst off with intense speed as the ship crash landed into the ruins. After they made it back to the tribe, they were quickly brought to Valfor's cave in order to rest. Dark Samus was okay physically but was still unconscious, so she was placed into a room to rest while Valfor talked to Samus about what had happened before her arrival.

Meanwhile, out of the wreckage of the ship, a badly burnt hand burst out of the rubble.


	9. Chapter 8: Fall from Glory

Metroid is a property of Nintendo

Chapter 8: Fall from Glory

As Dark Samus lay unconscious, deep in space, part of her DNA was being used for dark purposes. In the Volnak Ser system, on the volcanic planet Delak II, a massive space pirate base lay hidden partially under the surface. Leading this base was General Weavel, currently one of the supreme warlords of space pirates and was currently overseeing several major space pirate operations.

As he walked down a long corridor, he passed several major testing rooms. In one room could be seen several space pirates testing new weaponry, such as the Dark Missile, the Phazon Flamethrower, and the Anti-Matter Grenade. The training dummies they were testing these weapons on including Recon Drones and Necrophytes, kept behind a powerful one-way energy shield in order to prevent accidental escape. Already several drones were in ruins as a few Necrophytes lay crumpled against the walls. One of the testers, seeing a lack of targets, hit a switch, causing several more Necrophytes to come tumbling out of a tube as a group of Recon Droids marched out of a temporarily opened doorway.

Continuing on, Weavel stopped to look into another room just in time to see several prisoners get shoved over a ledge of a holding tank. As the prisoners slowly rose to their feet, a space pirate technician prepared to press a button but stopped so that Weavel himself could have the pleasure. With a groan, the door in the side of the tank rose upward, and several groans could be heard coming from behind it. With a roar, a Necrophyte came rushing forward, followed by several others.

These creatures were once prisoners themselves, but when they had "died", they were infected with Necrophytes, which were several different species grouped together under one name due to their ability to control dead bodies. As Weavel watched, the dying screams of the prisoners could be heard, and a splash of blood hit against the glass. After several seconds, all the prisoners lay dead, and the Necrophytes began to haunch over their dead bodies in order to feed.

After a few moments, they stopped feeding and then stood erect. Out of their chests came several larval Rin, a species of eel-like Necrophytes with an armored exoskeleton and four pronged jaws. They quickly began to enter the dead bodies, and within minutes, the once dead bodies began to rise from the floor, and were quickly "persuaded" to reenter the holding cells with electric prods. The changes to the hosts, caused by the Rin, included an armored exoskeleton, elongated claws and dagger-like teeth in order to make them more "efficient" would not occur for several more days.

Moving on, Weavel went on to observe the genetics lab, in which several space pirates were receiving implants. In the lab across from that one, a badly wounded pirate was receiving a robotic arm to replace his missing one that he had lost hours beforehand. Finally, Weavel arrived at his destination, the medical lab. He passed a table on which Delkri, of the Shadow Squad, was having the wound on his shoulder fixed. Ever since the dark trooper squad had retrieved the metroid DNA sample, they had been promoted to his personal guards and to the status of Enforcers.

Already the DNA had been used to grow several larval Metroids, all of which would be receiving phazon sustenance in order to achieve adulthood faster. Continuing, Weavel finally reached a railing and looked over it in order to see down into the chamber below. In the chamber, several medics were surrounding a regeneration tank, in which a space dragon could be seen. Regrown from a mass of cells that had been used in all of his cloning procedures, he was known as Ridley, and he had been one of the great leaders of the space pirates, serving the grand mother, Mother Brain, herself before her untimely death at the hands of the accursed hunter.

The process complete, an energy jolt was sent throughout the tank, giving life to Lord Ridley. Within seconds he began to thrash about in anger, roaring like some savage beast, nearly wounding several pirates. As metal restrained him, a neural headband was attached to his head. As electrical jolts coursed through it, Ridley's body jerked about for a few moments as his memories were restored. As the restraints and headband were removed, Ridley took a few deep breaths before rising from the tank and saying "It's… good... to be… back." After saying this, he nearly collapsed, and was quickly brought to the stasis chamber in order to rest until he regained complete control of his body.

Weavel, after witnessing Ridley's rebirth, headed back towards the bio labs. Hovering behind the observation glass, he looked at the swarming infant metroids hovering about, almost playfully around the tank. In the next tank the entire floor was covered in a pool of phazon, which had been regrowing lately for unknown reazons. A door opened and several infant metroids quickly soared into the chamber. Within moments they began to feed upon the phazon, causing them to rapidly reach adulthood.

Since they were a Tallon species, they lacked the ability to continue growing unlike their SR-388 ancestors, which did so due their primary food source was the mutagenic x-parasite. Continuing on, Weavel glanced at the next lab, in which techs were diligently working on the "Metroid Dread" project, one in which they hoped to create armor and weapons from metroids. As he looked towards the metroid mutagenic lab, in which new species were created and altered, a sudden explosion rocked the base.

Rushing towards the area where the explosion came from, several space pirate commandos ran past him in hurry, mentioning something about an attack. Stopping one, the commando told Weavel "Star Bandits sir, the Rendosians are attacking again." Ever since the death of Mother Brain, the space pirate organization had fallen apart, and several groups had appeared in an attempt to replace them, and the Rendosians, a race classified as Insectoid-Reptiles, created the powerful threat known as Star Bandits.

A wall collapsed, revealing several Star Bandits. Raising their wrist blasters, they prepared to fire but were suddenly sent flying by a Berserker Overlord that had smashed its way through the ceiling. Weavel, after nodding at in thanks, headed off towards the ship hangar. Dead pirates and bandits lay everywhere, and several security drones lay damaged beyond repair on the ground.

Pulling out his blaster, he carefully rounded a corner, picking off two unaware bandits with a few shots. As they fell to the ground, Bandit Demo Drone appeared and unleashed a batch of ion grenades. Leaping out of the way of the blast, he fired at the Drones eye socket, causing it to burst into flames and crash to the floor.

Sensing movement behind him, he whipped out his Battlehammer and fired several bursts at a group of star bandits that had attempted to sneak up on him, sending them flying. Suddenly, a roar vibrated through the hallways, and a heavy thudding sound meant something was heading his way, something big. Charging forward was a Bandit Titan, a massive cyborg that had been heavily mutated through genetic testing. Raising both of his weapons, Weavel prepared to battle the monstrosity.

Meanwhile, in the hangar, a ship had landed. After several battalions of troops ran out, along with several Demo Droids and mini Assault Walkers and entered the base, two figures soon followed. One was a giant android, twice the size of a normal human with heavy armored plating, two pairs of arms and a glowing central red eye.

The other one resembled a heavily armored Rendosian wielding an energy spear and electro-whip. He was the leader of the invasion fleet, and was known as General Krul'tor to his troops and "The Juggernaut" to his enemies. He had led over twenty campaigns against the Federation, the Space Pirates, the Kriken Empire, and more, and had considered to be one of the leaders of the Star Bandits. Raising his spear, he roared to his troops to ransack and loot the base, kill all space pirates, and to recover the metroid and phazon samples.

Stepping beside him was an ex-space pirate in Star Bandit armor. Known as Nul-ter, he had betrayed the pirates and had been sending information to the bandits over the past several months in exchange for a position within the Star Bandits organization. Pulling out a Plasma Blade, he yelled "The pathetic worms Ridley and Weavel are on this base... destroy them and end the pirates for good!"


	10. Chapter 9: Ridley's Wrath

Metroid is a property of Nintendo

Chapter 9: Ridley's Wrath

Weavel leaped upward, easily avoiding the Titan's charge. Landing safely behind it, he began to open fire on its back.

Letting out a roar, the Titan spun around and fired a volley of plasma bolts from its wrist blaster. As this was happening, an arm blade formed out of its other arm.

Rolling out of the way, Weavel pulls out an ion grenade and tosses it at the feet of the Titan. The explosion engulfs it in flames, causing it to be temporarily blinded by the smoke. Using this to his advantage, Weavel put away both of his guns, and then raised both of his arms. Arm blades quickly appeared on both of them seconds before he leapt forward.

As the Titan cleared its eye sensors, it was caught unaware by the sudden melee attacks of its opponent. Weavel had managed to slash off its shoulder mounted grenade launcher and its flamethrower. Growling, the Titan swung its own blade towards him, but Weavel managed to leap out of the way and slash several more times. Roaring, he grabbed forward and managed to catch Weavel in his cybernetic grip. Lifting him upward, he suddenly let out a cry of anguish as his arm was severed.

Weavel dropped to the ground, his blades covered in a bluish liquid consisting of a mixture of mechanical fluids and blood. The Titan grasped the stub of its arm. Roaring again, it charged him in a blind rage. Weavel simple dodged its attacks and swung again, severing its other arm. This caused the Titan to stumble backwards in pain, which created an opening for him.

The Titan was filled with pain from the combined loss of both of its arms. Suddenly its opponent leapt onto it, causing him to fall to the ground. As he looked up, the last thing he saw was Weavel swinging his blades.

Weavel simple chuckled as foe's head rolled on the ground. After a moment of catching his breath, he ran off towards the hangar bay. Meanwhile, in the med lab, the main doors seal themselves in order to prevent the Star Bandits from entering. Pounding can be heard from the other side of the door as some unknown behemoth attempts to break them down. A group of Elite Commandos set up a turret and several barricades when suddenly the door shatters, revealing a giant android entered.

Within seconds the android, known to the Star Bandits as "Ironhands", raised a massive plasma minigun and began to tear apart the barricades and pirates with a burst of plasma shots. Pirates roared out in pain as the shots tour them and the lab to pieces. Eventually only one was left, a lab tech that had retreated to the room for protection. Ironhands lifted him skyward and said in a metallic voice "Open…the stasis chamber."

The tech hesitantly stepped towards the control council, and quickly activated it as he saw the android aim his minigun at him. As the chamber opened, the tech said "It…it's done…" seconds before he was torn to shreds with plasma bolts.

Ironhands walked towards the stasis chamber, and as he reached opened pod a roar was heard. Ridley burst from the pod and took flight. As he landed, he stared at Ironhands and said "Who are you?" as he noticed the carnage around him.

Ironhands replied "I am one of the mightiest leaders of the Star Bandits, Ironhands!" He then noticed Ridley's confusion and then said "You don't know of the Star Bandits, do you? You have been gone for far too long. The Space Pirates are done for, and now we have replaced them as the true lords of this galaxy."

Ridley growled as he heard this, thinking about how much he had missed in-between his death and cloning. He roared "The Space Pirates do not fear the likes of you and your ilk; we are the invincible children of the Mother Brain!", as he stabs at the android with his tail.

Ironhands simple chuckles as he dodges the attack and says "The Mother Brain is dead, foolish reptile."

Ridley freezes as he hears this, and then lunges toward the android while yelling "You lie!!!"

Ironhands grabs onto Ridley as they both take flight, and says "The hunter known as Samus killed her, which caused the planet Zebes itself to self-destruct. You should have seen it; the entire planet first began to implode before exploding with enough power to completely shatter it. It was a glorious sight." He laughs as he raises his arm blade in an attempt to severe Ridley's head from his body, a fitting trophy he thought.

Ridley slams upward into the ceiling, knocking the android off. As he stabilized, he fired a powerful beam of flames from his jaws at it.

Ironhands rolled out of the way of the blast and fired twin rockets at his powerful foe. As the missiles soared upwards, they shattered, revealing six smaller missiles within each of them, each having a drill bit for a head, perfect for piercing Ridley's hide.

Ridley dodged the missiles, but was suddenly hit by a plasma blast, sending him flying backwards into the nearby wall before slumping to the ground. As he wheezed in pain, he realized that his armored hide had yet to completely harden. Suddenly Ironhands grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air.

Meanwhile, Weavel had just entered the hangar bay. As he strolled forward, several Star Bandits suddenly began to enter the room, weapons raised. Weavel simply stood still as he saw the spectacle, and after a moment, his feet locked onto the floor. The Star Bandits looked at one another in confusion seconds before Weavel shot the nearby bay door control panel, causing the doors to rise, venting the atmosphere into space, along with the Star Bandits themselves.

After several seconds the doors shut down as the main computers all over the base came back online. Auto turrets began to activate, eliminating the surviving Space Bandits. A sudden noise caught Weavel's attention, and after breaking down a door, found himself face to face with a cowering traitor Nul-ter.

Nul-ter, seeing Weavel, quickly raised his wrist blaster, but a sudden swing of Weavel's arm blade sent it, along with most of his arm, flying. Crying out in pain, the Space Pirate traitor attempted to run for it, but a blaster bolt hit him directly in the spine, paralyzing him. As he looked up in horror, the last thing he saw was the muzzle of Weavel's blaster seconds before it fired.

As Weavel exited the room, he heard another sound. Looking towards the ship, he saw Krul'tor. The Star Bandit warlord walked along the top of the ship, holding a laser spear in his hand. He says "So, we meet again Weavel…..it has been awhile." Krul'tor continued to walk along the top of the ship, saying "So Weavel, I believe it is time we finished our battle." He suddenly threw a dagger at Weavel, who reflected it with his arm blade, seconds before Krul'tor leaped downward towards him, spear in hand.


	11. Chapter 10: Old Blood

Metroid is a property of Nintendo

Chapter 10: Old Blood

Weavel leaped backwards, narrowly dodging the downward thrust of Krul'tor's spear. Quickly rising from his roll, Weavel raises both of his arm blades just in time to parry a swing from his foe's spear. Seeing an opening, Weavel pushes Krul'tor backwards and then attempted to stab him through the heart.

Seeing the oncoming attack, Krul'tor spun the club-end of his spear into the side of Weavel's head, causing him to go tumbling off a nearby ledge. Seeing his opponent fall to a lower level, Krul'tor leapt after him, spear at hand.

Weavel quickly regained his senses from the powerful blow, and quickly prepared himself for the ensuing fall. Landing on his feet, he pulled out both of his blasters and opened fire on the Star Bandit. Krul'tor simple deflected the attacks with his spear seconds before he collided with Weavel.

Both warriors were knocked to the ground. Sensing their weakness, they both leapt from the ground. Preparing their weapons, they slowly circled one another, each waiting for the other to make a mistake. Krul'tor leaped forward, swinging his spear, but the attack was parried by a raise of Weavel's arm blade. This parry caused the spear to go flying out of range, skidding across the metal floor upon impact.

Seeing his disadvantage, Krul'tor quickly raised both of his arms. Blade-like pieces of bone, known as karun, came out of slits in his wrists, a natural ability of his species. Weavel swung with both of his arm blades, but karun held.

Krul'tor says to Weavel, as they are locked in combat, "Your skills have improved since our last battle. We were both just soldiers back then, but you have remained weak, staying with your pathetic pirates, while I created the Star Bandits. The pathetic genetic engineering of your species is hopeless, for machines and cybernetics are the way of the future. You should join us, seeing that you are now more machine than pirate, and therefore you know the superiority of machinery of flesh and blood."

Weavel kicks Krul'tor back before replying with "You truly think I would join you? You must be delusional to believe that I would ever do that. We Space Pirates would have never abandoned the grand mother." He then leaps forward in an attempt to catch his opponent off guard.

Deftly dodging the leap, Krul'tor motions towards the carcass of Nul-ter while saying "Not all are as loyal as you were, but I see you have chosen your fate. You will die now."

Meanwhile, Ironhands was slowly choking the life out of Ridley by crushing his windpipe. Suddenly, one of his four arms was pierced by Ridley's tail, causing it to malfunction, releasing him from his grasp.

Ridley quickly takes in several deep breathes before righting himself up. Growling, he leapt forward and bit down on Ironhand's lower left arm, tearing it off after a few moments. As he threw the arm to the ground, he watched the android raise one of it two good arms. In it was the plasma minigun.

Ridley leaped to the side as a burst of plasma bolts tore apart the machine councils he had moments before stood in front of. Ridley started to take flight when suddenly several bolts hit him in the wings, forcing him to crash. As he got back up, Ironhands smashed him into a nearby supercomputer, completely destroying it.

Ironhands walked forward, when suddenly Ripley burst from the wreckage and grabbed the minigun. Holding it, he ripped out the energy cell, which began to overheat and rapidly beep. Just before it exploded, Ridley tossed it at the android, engulfing him in flames. Ironhands slowly stood back up, most of his exoskeleton destroyed, when suddenly Ridley used the broken minigun like a club and smashed it across his head.

The blow sent Ironhands reeling as he crashed against the nearby wall, and both now knew the outcome of the battle. Ridley roared, and then energy began to build up in his jaws. He said "Glory to the Mother Brain." seconds before a powerful energy beam burst from his mouth, completely destroying Ironhands. The victory his, Ridley began to wobble from the strain of battle, forcing him to sit as several Space Pirates burst into the room.

Meanwhile Krul'tor and Weavel had both suffered minor injuries from one another. Weavel swung forward, slashing his opponents arm. Krul'tor seemed unfazed from the attack as he kicked Weavel in the face, causing him to step backwards, causing an opening. Seeing this, Krul'tor pounced, his spear piercing Weavel in the abdomen and pinning him to the wall.

Chuckling, Krul'tor said "You are finished." but was caught off guard as Weavel himself laughed. Suddenly Weavel's top half separated from his lower half. Completely surprised, he was unprepared as Weavel walked down the body of the spear and stabbed him through the chest with his arm blade. Coughing blood, Krul'tor knocked Weavel's top half to the ground as he retrieved his spear. Knowing the wound was serious, Krul'tor had to accept defeat, so he ran back towards the ship, cursing his opponent by saying that he and his descendents would burn in the pits of Nalator for all time.

Weavel reattached to his lower half as several squads of Star Bandits retreated towards the landing ship. They were followed by several Space Pirates who began to open fire on them, killing dozens. As the ship took off, Krul'tor vowed revenge against Weavel and his kind, and saying that he would personally crush Weavel himself. With a flash, the Star Bandit ships escaped via portals back to their base. Meanwhile the Pirates began to celebrate the victory, though both Weavel and Ridley were worried by the sheer power of this new threat. As all this had happened, another Pirate base had unexpectedly come under attack, but not from an outside source.

_Rendosians_

_This race of aliens are classified as Insectoid-Reptiles due to they share several key features belonging to reptiles, such as laying hard-shelled eggs, having a endoskeleton, and claws, while also having several key features belonging to insects, such as having an exoskeleton made up of plates and having several stages of growth. They evolved and lived on Nol II, one of the four moons of the planet Nol. The moon is basically a massive desert with massive rocky spires and mesas covering it._

_Their eggs are kept in masses within a hive-like structure and they are constantly tended to. When born, they resemble armored lizards lacking legs. They eventually form a cocoon, from which they emerge they resemble their adult form._

_When fully grown, several physical features include a bipedal lizard-like body, two pairs of eyes, a thick exoskeleton, and arms ending in three claws and a thumb. Out of the underside of their arms, near the wrists, is a slit-like structure from which a bony blade can extend from, known as karun. They are extremely durable and can even puncture steel with ease._

_Their civilization is based upon a monarchy in which their greatest general is designated their lord. They are generally warlike when it comes to dealing with one another, but rarely do battle with other alien species due to their xenophobic tendencies. However, some groups lacked this phobia and spread throughout their solar system and beyond, forming several colonies throughout the galaxy. A rogue group, however, has formed the Star Bandit organization when the Space Bandits were defeated by the hunter Samus Aran._


	12. Chapter 11: The Beast

Metroid is a property of Nintendo

Chapter 11: The Beast

As the Space Pirate base was being attacked by the Star Bandits, the Federation Reaper Squad had arrived at the Metara system. On board, their ships scanners detected an unusual reading from a nearby asteroid belt surrounding the volcanic planet Maul. As the squad ship approached, a base could be seen, though there was no sign of activity, even though there was still power running through the base.

Their ship slowly hovered before the hangar doors, which were sealed shut. Uploading a virus, the doors slowly opened. The ship entered, and after the doors closed, the squad exited the ship. The team consisted of squad leader O'Brian, a veteran of the Crion wars. The other members included Jonas, Horatio, and Nor as riflemen. There was also a sniper, Sara, a heavy weapons expert, Graunt, an explosives/mechanic expert, Canden, and a medic, Tala.

Canden quickly hacked the security system for the nearby door, causing it to open. Suddenly a dead Space Pirate fell forward from behind the door. As the team surrounded it, they noticed vicious claw marks covering it, and it appeared something had attempted to eat it, due to scanners indicated corrosive acid burns on it. As they looked into the hallway, they noticed multiple dead technicians thrown about in the hallway, apparently massacred as they attempted to unlock the door.

Slowly moving forward, the Reaper squad checked every shadow as they headed towards the generator room. As they were about to enter, Nor thought he saw something move at the end of one of the hallways, but he quickly dismissed it. Suddenly he saw something else move, and he was sure of it. He signaled his team seconds before dozens of Space Pirates rushed them, however, their bodies were heavily mutated which consisted with Rin possession.

The marines opened fired upon the Necrophytes, causing several to fall to ground. Canden tossed a incendiary grenade into the swarm, igniting several and creating a temporary barrier, forcing the rest to come down the other two hallways. Graunt aimed his mini-arm cannon, sending a mass of energy bolts tore through the undead, sending limbs everywhere as the Necrophytes were torn about from the attack.

Eventually most of the Necrophytes were eliminated, when suddenly one crawled out a vent behind the group and lifted Jonas into the air. As Jonas struggled, the Necrophyte slammed him against a nearby wall seconds before O'Brien knifed it in the back of the neck, killing it. As its body crumpled to the ground, Jonas was helped back up after Tala checked him.

O'Brien said "You okay, cause we have the power on in the rest of the building." as he checked the nearby hallway for more Necrophytes.

Jonas said he was okay, so the group headed towards the med labs due to their sensors picked up a strange energy source emanating from that area.

As they opened the door, several Necrophytes suddenly came running down the hallway they had just come from. Canden tossed another incendiary grenade, which created a massive barrier of flames, cutting the undead off.

The room was extremely dark, even with the power turned on. Sara headed over towards a nearby computer council and activated the data files. The most recent data file showed the events that had occurred till the destruction of the base.

The scene was of several technicians working diligently on an unknown regeneration project. Suddenly shouts were heard, and a Necrophyte burst into the lab, roaring. Two commandos followed in an attempted to kill it. The Necrophyte managed to slam a technician against a computer monitor, causing it to malfunction, before it was killed. As the commandos surrounded its carcass, a massive roar was heard. The pirates suddenly looked at something obscured by the screen in complete horror seconds before the camera shut off.

Graunt began to say "What do you think happened?" when suddenly something fell behind them. Turning around, the marines saw that a power conduit had been freed of a bit of rubble, causing the lights to turn on, revealing massive scratch marks on the walls and shredded Space Pirate corpses littering the area. However, something much larger had caught their attention, for in the middle of the room was Kraid, his eyes filled with blood-lust.

Stomping forward, Kraid roared in hunger, its intelligence greatly diminished due to the earlier malfunction caused by the Necrophyte had disrupted the memory upload. Now it was no more than a giant savage beast, following its natural instincts to defend his territory and feed.

Roaring, Kraid swung downward, nearly hitting the marines as he tore a massive slash into the metal wall and damaged the door. Graunt quickly rose from the leap he had performed to avoid the attack, and quickly aimed his arm cannon and began to fire super missiles at the behemoth before him as Jonas and Nor opened fired with their arm rifles.

Kraid roared in pain as several of the missiles entered his mouth. Seething with rage, it caused several of its belly spikes to shoot off. They missed their targets yet they did manage to separate the marines from one another.

Kraid reached forward and grabbed Horatio and slowly pulled him to his jaws. Suddenly a bolt shot by the Sara's sniper rifle hit him in the right eye, causing a clear, reddish liquid to pour out. Kraid roared in pain as he dropped Horatio, who was luckily caught by Graunt.

Kraid, now in a frenzy due to his partail blindness, swung wildly as the marines, when Graunt managed to fire a super missile down his throat, causing a spray of blood to come flying out. Kraid gagged on his own blood for a few moments before the wound closed, and then he turned his attention on the marine, roaring in fury.

Kraid slammed his claw downward, the impact sending Graunt flying into the nearby wall, knocking him out cold. He attempted another attack but was distracted when Jonas and Nor began to open fire on his face, causing several minor wounds. Angered, Kraid turned his attention to them and fired several belly spikes.

One spike knocked Nor aside, and a loud crack was heard as Nor grabbed his arm. Meanwhile Jonas had just managed to get out of the way, when suddenly Kraid knocked him aside with one of his claws. Kraid took a step forward and prepared to crush Jonas when suddenly a missile collided with the side of his head.

Turning towards his new attacker, O'Brien, Kraid swung his claws, sending several nails flying at him. O'Brien narrowly dodged them before opening fire, managing to strike Kraid in the eye, causing him to roar in pain.

Kraid swung at O'Brien, pinning him, but his claw became stuck in the wall. O'Brien pulled out his dagger and jabbed it into the claw, drawing blood. Kraid instinctively grabbed O'Brien and lifted him towards his face, and after glaring at him in anger, opened his jaws wide. O'Brien, not wanting to be food, shouted "Eat this, you ugly son of a lizard!" and pulled out a power bomb. Activating it, he tossed it down Kraid's throat.

Kraid suddenly made a gagging sound as he began to stumble about. He tossed O'Brien from his grip as he stumbled about, clawing at his throat. A sudden muffled explosion could be heard. A torrent of blood began to pour from his open jaws as he fell backwards into the main computer system. As he breathed his last dying breath, the computer he crashed into exploded, causing the bases auto self-destruct. Several ensuing explosions suddenly began to tear apart the area.

Chunks of the wall and the ceiling began to crash into the ground, including a large support beam that cleared a path through the damaged door. Jonas yelled "We need to get out of here, we need to...no." He saw O'Brien, a massive pipe coming out of his chest. Jonas quickly ran beside him, attempting to help him, but was stopped by O'Brien himself, who said "No...its..too late...get the men out of here..." Jonas attempted to say something when he was interrupted by his next words "Thats...an order soldier...get out of here...get out...of...here..."

His body shuddered, and Tala, beside him, suddenly shook her head. Jonas, after taking all this in, rose to his feet and yelled "You heard him, we have to get out. Now lets move it!" With this the remaining team made a run towards the ship, when suddenly the sounds of persuing Necrophytes could be heard. They quickly entered the hangar and closed the door behind them, but several dents suddenly appeared in it as the persuing undead attempted to break in.

The squad quickly entered the ship, and as they began to take off, the doors into the hangar broke apart as a swarm of Necrophytes burst into the room. Several Necrophytes leaped onto the ship and began to attempt to tear it apart with their claws, when the Tala took control of the gun turrets and began to shoot them off, but it was a hopeless effort as more leaped on. Horatio, however aimed his turret at the hangar doors, causing all the atmosphere to vent into space, pulling out everything not bolted down along with it.

As the ship was pulled out into space, behind them the base began to explode in several areas before finally obliterating itself and the asteroid it was on. The squad, however, ignored this, remembering their leaders sacrifice as their ship headed back to command. Meanwhile, as this occured, Dark Samus had reawoken.


	13. Chapter 12: Old Memories

Metroid is a property of Nintendo

Chapter 12: Old Memories

Dark Samus slowly opened her eyes, her body still filled with pain from her previous battle with the entity known as Metroid Prime. She attempted to rise, but didn't have enough energy. Feeling drained, she slowly closed her eyes and slept once again.

Outside of the room, Samus sat across from Valfor, her armor deactivated. In between them was a small fire with a kettle over it, filled with Dal tea, a drink that Valfor thought would help ease the stress from the earlier battle. He had already finished explaining to Samus of his apprentices arrival, and of the training they did. Samus still didn't entirely trust Dark Samus, and was about to ask more questions when Valfor suddenly asked "Your suit is of Chozo origin, is it not?"

Samus was surprised by Valfor's knowledge of the Chozo, and replied with "Yes...but how did you know?"

Valfor replies with "Because they have been here before. We owe them much, for without them we would have died out many centuries ago." Seeing that this had caught her attention, he continued with "They arrived many, many years ago, during the early years of our civilization. They saved us from a great evil. If you wish to know of this story, you need only ask."

Samus shook her head yes, prompting Valfor to begin his tale. "In the beginning of our civilization, we formed a mighty city, Aldaos Zul, the ruins of which you saw earlier. For awhile we were for the most part a warrior race, engaging in battles with the other tribes. Eventually, a major war broke out between our tribe and another one to the north. For many years we battled, countless warriors dying for a foolish belief that they were righteous and their foes were evil. This war would have continued if not for the arrival of the beings from beyond the stars, the Chozo. Within weeks they ended the war, completely transforming our warrior race to that of one dedicated to peace. With our efforts no longer dedicated to war, we quickly advanced. Eventually it was apparent that the Chozo would have to continue their journey, though they left us a communicator should we ever need them again, and with that they returned to the stars."

Valfor took a sip of his tea before continuing. "All was good for many, many years, and peace ruled the land. We gained true harmony with the planet, tending it and protecting it. Our Golden Age began...but it was not to last. One day, another being came from the sky, a massive pod. It crashed into the the planet, burrowing down into what we know call the Caverns of Tarak. We investigated it, of course, thinking it was possible a damaged ship with an injured crew. The men who went their uncovered a massive pulsating pod, from which a powerful lifeform exited from. It began to absorb the pod into its being, greatly increasing its mass. We thought it was peaceful, but when we approached it, it shot forth tentacles of its own flesh and...absorbed them too."

Valfor's face became grim as he continued. "We quickly built barriers around, and energy shields to contain it. For a time it seemed to work, but we were wrong. It was only waiting. Before it esaped, it spoke, mentally to us. When it absorbed life, it absorbed their sentience, and when it absorbed us, it gained out minds. It said (_Foolish lifeforms, why do you resist me. You cannot survive, for I shall absorb all. Earth and metal shall become my structure, water and blood shall become my inner fluids, all manners of organics shall become my flesh, you will become my mind, and your world will become me.) _after which he absorbed the energy that bound him and the structures that hindered him. Our warriors and golems fought valiantly, but it was all for naught, for they to were absorbed. It then unleashed a viral spores that created a deadly epidemic that infected only our race, the one that had attempted to stop it. As hundreds died every day...all seemed lost."

Valfor took several more sips of tea, and then said "We managed to contact the Chozo, who arrived several days later. They were quickly told what had happened, and they soon created a cure that destroyed the spores. They then prepared their armor and weapons and proceeded to the caverns, intent on stopping the entity. After several hours the Chozo returned, weary but victorious. They rested for several days before they returned to their home. We later entered the caverns to find the pod had reappeared, but now it was sealed with several Chozo energy fields. We had been told that the Chozo had been unable to kill it, but they managed to seal it. We keep the area under guard at all times, lest the beast reawakens continues its rampage. I fear what would have happened if the Chozo had never visited us, and that is why we owe them everything."

With his tale done, Valfor stands up and walks towards the window overlooking the tribe. Already most of the damage from the space pirate attack had been repaired, and many of the citizens had returned to their daily routines. Valfor then says "We know you will be leaving soon, and we have already repaired your ship and upgraded it with Chozo technology left over from the days of old, as thanks for your aid."

Samus was extremely grateful for the aid, when Dark Samus entered the room. Samus looked at her, and was about to reply when suddenly Valfor says "It is still alive." Both Samus' turned to him as he continued saying "The entity you referred to as Metroid Prime is still out there, and its reign of destruction will continue. You must overcome your distrust for her or risk the fate of the galaxy."

Samus realized that Valfor was right, that she did need to trust her former foe. Suddenly her com-link went off, and answering it, she found it to be ADAM. Answering it, ADAM said "I've been trying to contact you. The Federation needs you back, there has been a situation." Hearing this, Samus said "Fine, I'll be there soon."

As Samus left the building, she stopped and then turned to Dark Samus and said "Are you coming?"

Dark Samus seemed confused until Valfor said "Go, it is for the best that you do." And with that both left. Valfor grinned as he saw them heading towards the ship. He also knew that he would one day see them again...one day.

As both entered the ship, Samus said "Well, before we go, your gonna need a name. I don't think the federation will be so willing to learn that Dark Samus is back among them, even if you were separated from Metroid Prime...hmmmm...well technically you don't know who you are...I guess that makes you a bit like a Jane Doe...how about Jane Aran?" Hearing this, Dark Samus smiled and readily agreed, after which they entered the ship.

--

Deep in space, Metroid Prime drifted through space, contemplating his plans for galactic domination and the spread of phazon. Up ahead was a small planet, Kros Anes, a world of vast forests and rocky mountains infamous for their complex caves. The native sentient lifeforms were a bat-like species known as the Mook. Metroid Prime altered his course so that he would crash into the planet, and in preparation a large shell of phazon surrounded him, though heavily concentrated in order to prevent detection until it was too late. However, as this happened, a wayward Federation satellite began to detect the phazon, unknowingly adding a new element to Metroid Prime's plan...


	14. Chapter 13: The Hunt Begins

Metroid is a property of Nintendo

Chapter 13: The Hunt Begins

As Samus and Jane left the planet, far away on the desert world Nephrim II, an old foe of Samus' was to be found.

Sylux leaped out of the cave entrance, just as it was engulfed with flames. Landing on the ground, he quickly mounted a nearby speeder bike and took off. As he sped through the dunes, avoiding massive rocky spires, several energy bolts whizzed past him. Looking behind him, Sylux saw several marauders behind him on their own speeder bikes, intent on killing him.

One marauder, Nikto, shouted "We got him boys! He is gonna pay for what he did to Rakium!" before firing off a round of energy bursts at him.

Sylux dodged the blasts and then entered a nearby canyon. As he sped along, one of the marauders got beside him and raised a plasma pistol. Before the marauder could open fire Sylux rammed his speeder into his, causing him to lose control and crash into the canyon wall, causing a massive explosion.

Nikto roared "He got Salk!" and then fired several more shots at Sylux, but all were avoided. Nikto then said "Plan B boys, Ako Formation!"

Two speeders appeared on either side of Sylux, and then began to ram him. Sylux, realizes what they are doing, seeing a rock straight ahead of him. He then waits before they both prepare to ram him, and then hits the brakes, causing both to ram each other and become stuck.

One rider yelled "Get off me Milro, your gonna get us both killed." to which the other said "No, you let go, your the one who got us stuck Zion, if not for...AWWWWWWWW!!" They both crashed into the rock, obliterating it.

Sylux took the left path, easily avoiding the rock, when suddenly he noticed something up ahead. Camouflaged in the rock wall was a giant Rock Dragon, a massive superpredator of the planet. Sensing the vibrations of the speeders, the great beast lowers its head, opening its maw wide, revealing a mouthful of massive razor sharp teeth about five feet long.

Sylux pulls to the side, narrowly avoiding becoming the creatures next meal, but the screams behind him indicate at least one of the marauders wasn't as lucky. Suddenly Sylux sees a gorge up ahead. He then sees a rock in the shape of a ramp, and he decides to take it. Going as fast as he can, he is sent flying skyward, followed by three marauders.

As Sylux landed on the opposite side of the gorge, he stopped his speeder and pulled out his blaster and began to open fire on his pesuers. One marauder was hit in the head, causing him fall off his speeder, while the second one's speeder was hit, exploding it. Only Nikto was left, who pulled out an energy axe. As he was about to throw it at Sylux, a stream of bullets struck him and his speeder, causing an explosion.

Sylux looked to his left, and saw a mechanoid holding duel assault rifles. The figure lowered them, and turned to Sylux, saying "So...are you the fleshbag known as Sylux?"

Sylux slowly reaches for his blaster, when the mechanoid says "That will not be necessary. I've been hired only to contact you, and to deliver a message to you...oh I have been rude, for I haven't introduced myself properly yet...I am Kronos, a type..."

"A type Advanced Imperial Assault Mechanoid model RX-3...you were created by Malfor-Robotics for the Federation, and technically your not supposed to exist." replied Sylux, cutting Kronos off.

Kronos says "You know more than your supposed to, flesh bag...even I'm impressed. I'm guessing your the one who destroyed the Malfor-Federation Syronian Compound...Well then, me employer wishes to hire you." after which to tossed a small Intel pack to Sylux. He then says, while walking away, "We will meet again, so be prepared."

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As this occurred, on a far away moon, a hunt was about to end. The moon was artificial, being built originally as a space station before being allowed for civilian use. Known as Tauron, it was perpetually covered in fog, due to multiple atmosphere generators.

Slowly a starship, the Dreadlord, passed through the atmosphere, its cloaks preventing all but the most advanced computers from detecting it. Eventually it landed on a small, secluded platform among the city tops, miles off the ground. A hatch opened, and out walked a fully armored warrior. His name was Thul, and he had been a hunter for over 20 years. He stared at a distant citadel-like building in the distance, almost entirely shrouded in mist, and he knew his prey, mob boss Hako, waited inside.

He sneaked along one of the catwalks, pulling out his duel daggers. He saw up ahead one of his targets guards, a Thrycin. The alien wore full blue armor, with only his face visible, including two head horns and a long elephant-like nose with three finger-like projections on its tip. The guard stopped, lifting his pulse musket as he looked back and forth, thinking he heard something. Seeing nothing, he continued walking forward.

Thul moved forward silently before leaping, and within moments he slit the guards throat and tossed him over the edge. As the body vanished into the darkness, Thul suddenly saw two guards. Thul pulled out a bow, though considered primitive by some, it was reliable and deadly in the right hands...such as his. Aiming, he fired a shot, piercing one of the guards in the back, completely penetrating the armor. The second guard saw this and began to run when a second arrow felled him too.

A forth guard appeared out of the mist, raising his musket as he open fired. Thul rushed forward, dodging each energy projectile until he was inches away. A pair of wrist blades appeared out of his hand, and he jabbed them deep into the gut of the Thrycin. Quickly a poison secreted from a gland on the back of Thul's neck was pumped into the blades, and then into the Thrycin.

The Thrycin suddenly began to gag as the poison reacted to the oxygen in his body...dissolving him from the inside out. As his flesh liquidated, he collapsed in pain, a greenish liquid pouring out of his mouth. In minutes all that remained was a pool of acidic liquid, which began to disintegrate.

Meanwhile, inside the building, Hako ordered his men to seal all entrances and to place guards on all corners, for he wanted this bounty hunter dead at all costs, no matter how many had to die in order to accomplish it, due to his life was at risk. He grinned as the door into his office was sealed shut, and several guards within the room aimed forward, preparing to open fire on whoever entered.

As this was happening, Thul looked upward, he pulled out duel machine pistols and entered the building. As he turned a corner, he opened fire, killing three guards in a hail of gunfire. He then moved forward, quickly reaching a recently sealed door. Pulling out a small vial of liquid, he poured it along the hinges of the door before taking cover. After a few moments the door exploded, sending a wave of smoke into the guards on the other side. As they attempted to move forward, Thul moved in, pulling out his daggers. As he weaved back in forth, his daggers constantly found their marks, felling guards at a ridiculous speed. Within a few moments the only two beings left alive was Thul and the mob boss Hako.

Hako was a Gralak, a large gorilla-like species with a leathery hide and a mandrill-like head. As he rose from his chair, he pulled out a plasma pistol and shot a bolt before it was knocked out of his hands by a swing of Thul's plasma whip. Hako grabbed his burnt hand as he moved backwards as Thul moved forward, saying "What...What do you want...spare me...I'll give you whatever you want if you spare me...please, I have money, power...anything you want...WHAT DO YOU WANT!?"

Thul simply leaped forward and stabbed Hako in the chest, and then said "I have no need for such material items...I only honor...the hunt." He pulled the dagger out of the corpse and pulled out a communicator, alerting his contractor that the job was complete. After finishing up, he headed back to his ship, where he found an Intel pack in his ship.

Thul turned on the Intel pack, and a cloaked figure appeared, saying _"Hello...hunter. I have a...job for you...I need a hunter of your skill...to eliminate a certain threat...a powerful bounty hunter...who needs to die...she is named...Samus Aran...will you take the job...for if you succeed...you will be rewarded greatly..." _

Thul stood there for a few moments, and then said to himself "She will not live much longer...the hunt has begun." before throwing back his head and roaring like some savage beast.

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Sylux just watched the message given on the Intel. He grinned at the prospect of eliminating the Federations legendary bounty hunter, Samus Aran. He then activated his ship, the _Delano Seven_, and took off into space.


	15. Chapter 14: Sacred Flame

Metroid is a property of Nintendo

Chapter 14: Sacred Flame

On board Samus' ship, ADAM was delivering the distress message to Samus and Jane. A holographic image of Admiral Dane appeared, reporting from on board the G.F.S. _Olympus_. Being a recording, it quickly delivered its message.

"Greetings Samus, we are in need of your talents once again. A short while ago one of our satellites scanned a massive source of phazon, located within a meteor that crashed into Kros Anes about a few days ago. All contacts with the sentient lifeforms, the Mook, stopped after several hours. We sent a transport, but we soon lost contact, and being that you are already only a few days away, we need you to see what happened. Remember, were all counting on you. End transmission." said Dane before vanishing.

Samus knew straight away that this had to be the work of Metroid Prime. She quickly began to readjust the course towards Kros Anes as Jane explored the back of the ship. ADAM suddenly said to Samus "Who is the girl?" Samus remained silent for a moment before saying "A...uh friend." before returning back to the ships controls.

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Sylux had just established contact with the contractor, saying "I received your offer...it is interesting, what do you have against Samus?"

The shadowy contractor, his black cloak hiding his features, said "_Why she must die is of no concern to you, but if you succeed, you will be richly rewarded._"

Sylux stared at the screen as the price appeared...10 million credits. He thought that whoever this was, he wanted Samus dead at all costs. Sylux then said "I'll take the bounty...for this and other reasons."

Unbeknown to him, already several other hunters had agreed to the bounty...including Thul...and more would soon join them.

Meanwhile the contractor fell back into his chair and began to wheeze in pain, holding his side in pain. He slowly said to himself "_Why...why did I become this...why could't I have just died...this isn't living...this isn't...living..."_ before doubling over in pain, his cloaked form appearing nothing more than a shadow on the ground.

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Samus' ship soon arrived at Kros Anes, and ADAM immediately awoke Samus and Jane from criostasis. Samus then took over the controls of the ship, piloting it towards the planets surface. Her landing zone was just outside a small forest beside a large mountain, which was were the phazon meteor and the Federation ship had landed. Samus noticed that though the Federation ship was visible, there were no signs of any meteor crashing into the planet.

As Samus, who was in her suit, and Jane exited the ship, when ADAM said "If you need a little more firepower, you know who to call...take care." Samus smirked at this before continuing on to the Federation ship. As they walked through the forest, their presence caused numerous Zoomers, Gleeks, and Shren to scurry into their burrows and nest...but it also alerted a more dangerous threat.

They both soon reached the ship and immediately knew something was wrong. One marine was pinned to the side of the ship by several shards of what appeared to be phazite, only inches away from a massive hole in it, still glowing blue along the edges from whatever shot it down. Another marine had two spears stuck in him, and right next to him were four marines all pierced by more phazite shards. Whatever had attacked them had apparently knew they were coming.

Jane suddenly tapped Samus' shoulder and motioned to a group of nearby trees. A trio of marines were hung upside down from its branches of one of the trees. Their weapons had been removed, as well as their armor. By the looks of it, they had died after being hung.

Sudden movement caught both their attentions. A small, robed bat-like creature stood by the trees, cowering behind them. Samus said "Come out, we both can see you. Who are you and what do you know about what happened here?"

The small, 5 foot high alien said "I...I am Nios...I know what happened here, but we must move, they will be back..." and with that he motioned to a small cave. Samus and Jane followed him wearily.

Inside the cave, Nios said "About a week...an orb of blue fire crashed into the Templar grounds. As we approached it, a being exited it, a mighty one. It...it claimed itself a god...and that we were the chosen race. Many didn't listen to it and fled the area...but some stayed, including the one who became his high prophet, Val. The being proclaimed that...that it needed sacrifices...a pit was created around the flame...and the 'heretics' were fed to it. My...my brother was taken...and I only just avoided his fate...please help us...please..."

Samus said "This being...was it like the pha...er I mean the flame. Did it look like it was made up of it?"

Nios nodded, saying rapidly "Yes..yes it was...just like the liquid flame...except for its core...and its glowing eyes..they seemed to pierce our very souls."

Jane and Samus nodded at this, and then Jane said "Can you bring us to these Templar grounds?"

Nios shuddered for a moment, but then said "Yes...but we must remain quiet or they will find us."

And with that they moved carefully through the underground passageways of the cave. Various glowing fungi covered the walls, illuminating nesting Shriekbats which had themselves patches of bioluminescence on their skin. Paying no attention to them, they continued forward, avoiding Zoomiks, an underground relative of Zoomers covered in glowing spikes and bearing poisonous fangs. They eventually reached the cave exit and found themselves overlooking a large temple with a courtyard dominated by a massive bowl filled...with phazon...surrounded by a crowd.

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Several Mook in green armor, most likely a form of phazite, surrounded the bowl and a group of "heretics". One with a spear jabbed forward, forcing one timid looking non-believer up a small flight of stairs until he was on the rim of the bowl. The guards, who had been chanting, suddenly went silent as a robed figure appeared on a platform in front of the temple. He wore a massive crown upon his head, made of pure orange phazite, and wielded a scepter shaped like the central body of Metroid Prime.

He said "Heretics, behold the sacred liquid fire, giver of life and death. A living entity, you have been judged unworthy by it for your lack of faith. Your punishment shall be that you are to be fed to, consumed by, and then become one with it. As you are incorporated into it, you shall be purified and join the great one. Let the sacrifice BEGIN!"


	16. Chapter 15: Sacrifice

Metroid is a property of Nintendo

Chapter 15: Sacrifice

As the high prophet uttered his decree, Samus and Jane watched as a the "liquid flame" began to bubble before a large tentacle of phazon burst from it. The horrified "heretic" stood frozen, consumed by fear as the tentacle latched onto him and pulled him into the bowl. The Mook vanished, and after a moment, the phazon level within the bowl rose. Suddenly Nios and Jane collapsed besides Samus, who quickly turned around to see a club coming down upon her head seconds before blacking out herself.

Samus awoke, her head throbbing, and found herself tied to one of the pillars. She could barely feel anything..."I think they drugged us." she thought before realizing her surroundings and that her helmet now lay by her feet. On either side of her were Jane and Nios, along with several other Mook. Around them were several of the guards they had seen earlier, their green phazite armor glittering in the sun. The guards suddenly parted as Val, the high prophet, strode forth. He said "So these are the trespassers...they must have come from the Federation Ship. They have been caught with one of the heretics, the one who fled before. Now let us see which shall be purified by the sacred flame." With that he rose one of his hands, and it began to glow as phazite grew out of it like a spike covered gauntlet.

He began to walk past his new sacrifices, holding his gauntlet over their heads. The hand glowed and pulsed, as if it had a life of its own, and the frequency became faster the closer it came to their heads, as if it was sensing something. The prophet's hand stopped as it reached Jane, as his hand began to glow vibrantly. The high prophet said "By the decree of the sacred flame...you will be the first to be purified."

Janen, still sluggish from whatever the guards had given the "heretics", was pushed towards the bowl. As she was moved to the rim of it. In a flash, a tentacle burst from the within the container, pulling in Jane.

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The _Delano Seven_ moved through space, its destination clear. Before it was the massive space station Bacila II, a one-time Federation Trading Outpost turned Bounty Hunter meeting ground. Considered neutral territory, it was considered a safe haven even with this designation, an unwritten law known by all, and rarely disobeyed.

Landing in hangar bay 3A, Sylux departed his ship, activating its defenses as he made it to hangar exit. Passing two chatting humanoids, both went quiet as he went by, one said under his breath "It's him." Ignoring them, he continued forth, he knew where he was going.

Entering a nearby bar, the _Silver Crescent_, he seated himself at the counter. Rising from behind the bar was a heavily built, 9-foot tall with a thick reptilian hide and an array of spikes on its back, along with a pair of compound eyes and 2-foot long face tentacles. Standing still for a moment, it grabbed a nearby mug in its three fingered hand and began to clean it, saying "Haven't seen you here in about a year, what's the occasion." as he then poured an Alenik Ale on the house.

His visor partially raising, Sylux took a long gulp before saying "I've got a bounty, and I need info Rynak, know who I should contact... It's Samus."

Rynak shook his head, his tentacles swaying with the motion. "Her again... Didn't you learn your lesson the last time... of course not... well, the person I would see in Zelna, he lives in Sector three, Construct 5T Beta." He then pulled a TriCon Blaster and aimed it at a scrawny insectoid tripod-like alien, and said "Don't even think about Nal, you and me both know you have the money to pay for the tab." The alien let out a tiny squeak and then extended its single crab-like claw, dropping several credits on the counter before scurrying out.

Sylux let out a small chuckle, and then said "Ever think of becoming a hunter again... you were one of the best I've known." as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"No... I'm retired, I've had my glory days, and now I'm through with them. I've got a family, and I've got a good job... when are you planning to retire, it's never too early in our line of profession." replied Rynak.

Sylux chuckled again, and then said "I doubt anytime soon... I'll see ya next time." With that, he exited the building as Rynak went back to washing and pouring mugs. Sylux began walking through the streets, its masses consisting of mercenaries, bounty hunters, and the occasional black market dealers. Every once in awhile one would see a Federation Marine, their presence no more than one to give the impression of rule.

Sylux then reached his destination, a more rundown area of the station, and passed a group of "Tombstones" lifting a sheet covered stretcher into a van. A killing must have occurred recently.

Sylux entered the nearby building, a large crystalline humanoid moving out of the way in order to let him pass. Heading up a flight of stairs, he found the only room on the top floor. Two more guards were before, wearing ebony black full powersuits, with two visors revealing four glowing blue eyes. Both Held Plasma Battle Rifles, and stared coldly at Sylux, but nonetheless let him pass.

Entering the circular room, the door closed behind him. A voice was heard saying "Another one... let me guess, you were contracted to hunt down Samus Aran... your not the first one to come in, and your certainly not the last... sit down." A chair rose, on which Sylux then sat upon.

A circular sphere lowered from the ceiling, opening up to reveal a pair of five glowing red eyes from the darkness within. An extremely elongated grey arm extended from the darkness, holding a data file in six clawed hand. As it retracted, Zelna said "That will be useful, trust me, the others found it helpful. Now tell me this... who contracted you?"

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The pool of phazon began to bubble ferociously, unnoticed by the High Prophet and his zealots.

"As you have seen, the sacred fire is all knowing, all powerful. You and your Federation came to steal, do not deny it, for it has spoken to me, it has told me the TRUTH! Your Federation cannot comprehend the power of our God, he who is here and yet is not, his sight sees all and his senses sense all. YOU HERETICS SHALL ALL BE SACRIFICED."

Just then, an armored hand burst from the pool of phazon.


	17. Chapter 16: Old Wounds

Metroid is a property of Nintendo

Chapter 16: Old Wounds

As Sylux leaned back against the chair, he waited a moment as Zelna appeared to absorb the information he had just heard. After another moment, Zelna said "So, this figure contacted you via Kronos... interesting. Did he mention why he wanted this bounty performed?"

"No, from what I got from the message, it appears he just wants her dead. Simple as that." replied Sylux.

"I see... that is all, your presence is no longer needed... it would be best for you to be on your way, however, their was a hunter who has recently joined the Guild, and I believe he will be helpful on this mission... he'll be waiting by the entrance." The sphere then closed, and without making a sound levitated into a hole within the ceiling, which closed with a hiss.

Sylux rose from his chair and turned about, passing once again the pair of guards from before, and headed down the stairs, and made his way through door which was quickly slammed by the crystalline humanoid from before. Looking back and forth, he saw no sign of his new "partners", when he finally saw a pair of hunters turning the corner.

The first greatly resembled the pair of guards from before, with the same black armor, and from the four glowing blue eyes behind its visor seemed to imply it was the same species. The only difference was that the armor appeared to be thicker, and the fact that it had a large sonic warhammer hanging on its back.

The second hunter, based upon on its armor, appeared to be insectoid. Lacking lower limbs, it moved forward by walking on its hands, though was still able to keep pace with its "partner".

Sylux crossed his arms as they approached, and then said "You the ones Zelna spoke of? You don't look much like hunters."

"Yes, and speak for yourself, do you even know who your talking too? I am the mighty Brannigan, and I will not be spoken to in such an insolent tone." The figure beside him then made several clicking sounds. Sylux's translator being unable to translate its language. Brannigan, upon hearing his partner, said "The Tiyanian says you should be respectful in front of a 'Black Guard', mammal." The Tiyanian then made several more clicking noises, to which Brannigan went silent for several seconds, staring blankly, and then saying "I best not translate that..."

Sylux glared from behind his visor, and then said "Does this Tiyanian have a name, or does he think of himself as too high to tell... or is he like the others back in the building, the angry silent type?"

The Tiyanian spoke in several sharp clicks, to which Brannigan translated into "He is named Trisack, 5th son of Nidarus, of the House of Kirken. As for the 'others' you speak of, they are shamed ones, remnants of the old ruling order, and thus banished from their homeworld. They are not to be further spoken of."

Satisfied, for now, Sylux then asked "One more thing... why are you willing to hunt down Samus?"

Brannigan spoke first, his voice filled malice as he said "Lets just say I'm in it for revenge. Had a little smuggling opperation, and then she came and handed me into the Federation, something about supplying weapons to the Annotkin rebels as being 'illegal'. I rotted for 5 years before getting out on a technicality, and now I'm gonna make her pay." He growled a moment and then said "The Tiyanian, however, is simply in for it because of the money and the hopes of fighting a worthy opponent... what about you?"

Sylux crossed his arms once more, and said "I'm after her because she works for that accursed Federation. Killing her will weaken it, seeing how important she is to it, and also for a little payback after the last time we fought."

Brannigan simply chuckled at this and said "Hey, I have no love for the Federation, but even I wouldn't go so far as to only take bounties in order to weaken it... they'll catch on sooner or later, and probably hunt me down... by the look of it, seems they've already begun that with you. No matter, we can worry about that latter. For now we should deal with killing that retched hunter, collect the bounty, and be done with it. Simple as that."

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The High Prophet raised his hand into the air, the zealots around him instantly kneeling to the ground. He then said in a booming voice "WE SHALL KNOW SEE WHO SHALL BE OFFERED TO THE LIVING FLAME!" and as his gauntlet began to glow, he moved forward, when his eyes suddenly bulged. The High Prophet suddenly froze, and grabbed his hand in pain, the gauntlet he wore vibrating rapidly before shattering in a splash of blood and phazon.

The zealots quickly rose to their feet, unsure of what was happening, when the sacred relic of sacrifice exploded. The zealots turned towards the source of their worship, and saw a figure floating in midair. Before them was the black armored being that had caused great fear during the phazon crisis, Dark Samus. As the zealots raised their pikes and lifted their gauntlets, Dark Samus let out a hollow laugh that seemed to echo throughout the courtyard.

Samus, watching all this, then remembered the High Prophet, and saw him running off, holding his bloody stump of an arm to his chest as he headed for temple. She then attempted to break free of her bonds when the zealot beside her lowered its pike and fired an energy bolt from its tip. The bolt struck Dark Samus in the head, causing her to bend over backwards. The zealot grinned, and then the look on his face slowly faded as Dark Samus began to laugh once more and then stared at him, her visor flashing blue as she raised her arm cannon. A powerful beam of phazon burst forward, striking the zealot dead on and obliterating him in an explosion that sent Samus flying sideways, her bonds breaking as she hit the ground.

Quickly rising to her feet, Samus looked up just in time to see Dark Samus fire off another beam, obliterating a group of charging zealots. She also saw, however, the "sacrifices" escaping as their guards ran off to aid their comrades in battle. Realizing that for now this destruction would aid her, she ran off towards the temple in order to take down the High Prophet.

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The High Prophet ran through the temple, relics built of phazite surrounding him as he left a trail of blood behind himself. A group of his guards appeared, but before they could question him about his wounds, he yelled out "To the courtyard! Kill all the heretics!" The guards bowed, then raced for the doorways. When they were gone, Val moved before a massive statue in the image of Metroid Prime, built out of a fusion of phazite and gold. Grasping one of its tentacles, he twisted it upward, and then moved another so that it pointed backwards, before pushing in both of its eyes. With a flash, the eyes sparkled before the statue lifted from the floor, revealing a hidden passage.

Rushing down it, the light from the main room the temple slowly faded, only to be replaced a dim blue one. Slowly the walls of the tunnel changed from stone to pure phazite, and as Val made his way deeper into the tunnel, the blood continued to squirt from where his arm had once been, and as it hit the floor, it rapidly bubbled before crystalizing. Finally, he approached his destination, a large room composed of massive shards of phazite over a smal pool of phazon.

Kneeling before the pool, Val said "My lord, problems have occurred... I need your guidance!" As his word echoed throughout the chamber, the pool of phazon rippled, and then the entity known as Metroid Prime rose from its depths. Levitating before the High Prophet, its glare fell upon him as its skin rippled with energy.

"_Why have you summoned me, insignificant worm? You were not to awaken me until the pool had filled! Pray that I find your excuse acceptable._"

As the message bombarded his mind, Val said "You lied about the phazon, you said it could absorb anything!"

"_Watch your tongue, mortal, you know not the true range of my power. What do you mean by this outburst?_"

"More of those Federation dogs came, two to be exact. When we sacrificed the younger of the two... she absorbed the phazon, and now she is destroying the temple as her partner heads here!" replied the High Prophet as his "master's" eyes began to widen.

"_WHAT! YOU LEAD THEM HERE..... no matter, I was prepared for this eventuality... so they have found me at last... and she survived... she is indeed tougher than she originally appeared. You are lucky I spare you."_

"What... you knew they would come! Look at me, I am crippled! I did everything you said, I did all this for you, and this is how you repay me?! Where is the power you promised? WHERE IS IT?!" yelled Val, seething with anger. He was sudden slammed into the ground, and held in place as Metroid Prime glared in anger.

_"Insolent worm, know your place. You want power, then I shall grant you it."_ His eyes then glowed a brilliant blue as a third eye opened in the center of its forehead. Raising its tentacles, steams of phazon energy pierced his puppet, filling it with his power. As the High Prophet screamed in agony, Metroid Prime mused to himself, saying "_Did I mention that this would hurt?_"


	18. Chapter 17: Phazon Clash I

Metroid is a property of Nintendo

Chapter 17: Phazon Clash I

Samus charged up the stairways, and raised her armcannon as she saw a group of warriors clothed in green phazite armor, wielding halberds. One pointed forward at her, and yelled out "Kill the heretic. Kill it!" Two of them raised their gauntlets, and orbs of phazon burst from them. Samus sidestepped the attack, and fired off several shots. The nearest warrior took the blunt of the attack, and collapsed forward, rolling down the rest of the stairs. Samus leaped over the carcass and fired a missile, only to see it deflected aside by a halberd strike.

As her momentum decreased, one of the guards fired a barrage of bolts from his gauntlet, but missed as Samus transformed into a morph ball form, who then boosted forward, slamming the guard backwards into the stairs, cracking them. Morphing back, she fired several more blasts, causing another guard to collapse. She then quickly lowered herself as a halberd swung overhead, narrowly beheading her. Spinning about, her foot smashed into the guards face, a loud crack emanating as he was sent flying backwards down the steps, leaving only one guard standing.

The head guard swung his halberd, causing Samus to sidestep it, but as she did, the guard fired a bolt of phazon from his gauntlet, striking Samus in the shoulder. The attack burning her flesh even through her armor, causing her to grimace in pain from behind her mask. Raising her cannon, she fired a missile that burst forward, smashing into the guards chest. As the smoke cleared, the guard could be seen dazed, his chest bleeding, when Samus raised her other arm, a beam of energy bursting from it and wrapping around its leg. Swinging her arm aside, the grapple beam flung the guard aside, sending him flying off the edge of the stairs.

With the small fry out of the way, Samus entered the temple, wary of any more guards. As she passed the artifacts around her, she noticed that no guards were in site. Her gaze then fell upon the giant statue of an old foe. As she approached it, she stopped as a rumbling noise emanated from behind the statue, which began to rock back and forth.

The statue exploded, sending shards flying in all directions. Covering her eyes, she slowly looked on, seeing a blue cloud of phazon flowing out a newly revealed tunnel. Raising her arm cannon, she saw an elongated arm stretch out of the haze, its elongated claws gripping the sides of the tunnel, followed by a second one made entirely out of orange phazite. She watched on as the rest of the body was dragged out, and after several moments she realized it was the High Prophet. Its fur was gone, replaced by blue, phazon enhanced muscle structure, its eyes enlarged and bleeding pure phazon, its jaws elongated as its tongue, nearly twice its original length, hung limply out of it, and finally an array of phazite spikes protruded from its back.

With a roar the monstrosity leaped forward at Samus, its eyes filled with malice. Samus quickly responded by leaping over it, fired several plasma bolts into its exposed back. The beast roared, whether in pain or anger Samus did not know. As she landed onto the ground, she was suddenly sent flying sideways by a swing of the beasts tail. As she crashed through several statuettes, she spun about, firing a super missile at the now open maw of the prophet.

The head of the High Prophet was instantly engulfed in flames for a moment, and as the smoke cleared, its bloodied mouth was visible, several of its teeth falling to the ground. It suddenly roared, and then charged forward in leaps and bounds, raising its phazite claw as it did so. As it tore through the wall with ease, the claw then came down sharply, nearly cutting through Samus had she not rolled out of the way. Focusing on the Morph Ball, the beast opened its jaws, and then fired a massive beam of phazon.

Samus was sent flying through the air, and upon hitting the ground, returned to her normal form. As the beast slowly began to walk towards her, Samus fired off a missile. The High Prophet easily dodged it, but then slowly turned about as a cracking noise was heard. Looking behind it, it saw a pillar slowly crumble at the spot where the missile had struck, and within seconds the entire structure fell forward onto the mutant. With a mighty crack the pillar slammed down upon its biological arm, shattering the bones within.

Pinned beneath the pillar, the High Prophet let out a roar in agony. As Samus rose from the ground, she charged her ice beam and took aim. The mutant suddenly began to glare, and then raised its free arm, the one made of phazite, and brought it down sharply... severing off its broken, trapped arm. As torrents of blood and phazon flowed from the open wound, the High Prophet bounded forward, overcome with rage, and prepared to take down Samus.

Still holding still, she watched on as the beast continued to charge her, and then, just as it leaped skyward in order to pounce upon her, she opened fired. The effects were nearly instant as the Ice Spreader struck her foe, its icy grasp slowly engulfing it in ice. Its momentum still moving it forward, Samus was forced to leap aside in order to avoid a collision.

As the High Prophet slammed into the ground, part of him shattered on impact, obliterating his other arm and and the lower half of his body. Gasping in pain, his life slowly leaving his body, he suddenly spoke, surprising Samus, and said "My... master... will... avenge... me..." and with that, a gush of phazon escaped his jaws as a gurgling sound was heard from within his throat, after which his head went limp.

Looking on, Samus saw the body begin to deteriorate, particle of phazon escaping it until the entire body had vanished. The cloud of phazon hovered in midair for a moment, and then burst towards the open tunnel, vanishing into the darkness. Watching on, a brilliant blue glow began to fill it, and then out of the darkness floated Metroid Prime.

Samus instantly raised her arm cannon and repeatedly fired her Power Beam at its main body. Appearing to be unharmed, Metroid Prime telepathically roared "You stand no chance... You were weakened just by that worm, and he simple fed off my power.... I will annihilate you." Energy began to build up in its tentacles, and was then released all at once, sending a massive shock wave of phazon at Samus, sending her flying backwards, smashing through a pillar before flying out the temples entrance and skidding down the rest of the stairs.

Slamming into the courtyard, Samus attempted to painfully get up, just in time to see Dark Samus aiming her arm cannon at her, the guards who had been outside before now only a distant memory, their phazon-infused ashes blowing into the wind along the crater filled ground. Dark Samus let out a hollow laugh, the massive amount of phazon she had absorbed still affecting her, when she stopped and looked up just as the temple exploded in a cloud of phazon. Metroid Prime could be seen floating in the center of ruins, his gaze meeting Dark Samus'.

Raising her arm cannon away from Samus' head and towards the self-proclaimed deity, her intentions were made clear....


End file.
